The Mayor of Lewisham has resigned after years of service, and will instead stand as an MP in an upcoming by-election.

Damien Egan made the announcement on January 10, following the resignation of the current MP for Kingswood.

He said it had been an "honour and a privilege" to be Mayor, and explained that he is proud of what has been achieved by working together.

Mr Egan said: "I have been selected to fight this by-election and therefore I have informed the Chief Executive of my decision to resign as the Mayor of Lewisham.

"I want to thank everyone in Lewisham for their support over the last 14 years from when I was first elected as a Lewisham councillor to now as Mayor.

"It has been an honour and a privilege to be the Mayor of Lewisham and I am proud of what we have achieved by working together: turning around Children’s Services, improving local schools, an ambitious council house building programme, and our work to support independent high street businesses."

The date for a mayoral by-election will be confirmed in due course.