HEART problems have forced Terry Joslin to stand down as a councillor, after serving the people of Didcot for two decades.

But Mr Joslin, 75, who was a firefighter, paramedic and teacher before becoming a councillor, will not give up public life completely.

Formerly a Labour county councillor, he has been a South Oxfordshire district councillor for Didcot All Saints and a town councillor. The father-of-four said: “I’ve been a town councillor since 1991 and I was a county councillor for 16 years, from 1993.

“Then I did two spells for the district council, the first in 1995, and in total I’ve completed 21 years as a councillor for Didcot.

“Earlier this year, I started to get high blood pressure and the doctor then discovered cardiac arrhythmia.

“After that, I picked up a chest infection and that led to further complications. I’m on the mend, but I’ve decided to drop anything that could cause me stress.”

Mr Joslin and wife Joan, 71, have 23 grandchildren. He taught at Greenmere Primary School, now Willowbrook, and at Harwell and Culham as a scientific assistant.

He will remain a member of the Harwell Stakeholder Group and will still work on Didcot’s twinning links.

The by-elections for both the district and town councils will be held on October 25.