A CHARISMATIC Kidder-minster musician says he will not be standing as a district council candidate as planned due to concerns about his health.

Nick Townsend, who fronts rock band, Weak 13, announced he wanted to go into local politics to stand up for young people after he was forced to cancel a Hallowe'en concert at Kidderminster Town Hall due to a last-minute problem with insurance.

He said he had now decided to wait a year before starting a campaign to win a place on Wyre Forest District Council as he believed the stressful experience had a severe effect on his health.

While being interviewed on local radio about the concert cancellation, he said he suffered a panic attack, which he believed was caused by the responsibility of having to tell people the event was no longer going ahead.

Mr Townsend told the Shuttle/-Times&News: "I suffer from depression and I am prone to having panic attacks. I had one on air."

He also thought he might have suffered from a mild stroke, as one side of his face froze up for several days.

The 30-year-old, who has thrown himself into music so he can make his first album, added: "Cancelling the event cost me hundreds of pounds. I have only just got back on my feet.

"I still plan to be involved in local politics but I'm in no fit state, with my health, to start a campaign.

"If people think I am being lazy and quitting, it's ridiculous. I have got to start thinking about my health."

Mr Townsend said he wanted to spend a year looking at the issues that were important to young people, adding: "I love this town. It has got a lot of good things going for it.

"I don't think I would be where I am now without it. I am going to spend some time talking to people and finding out what problems they face to see how I can help them."

He was unsure whether he would be involved in organising the popular Kidderminster Rock Festival in the summer but was currently working with Worcestershire's Youth Parliament member, Abbey Lewis, to organise an under-18s night at Kidderminster Youth Centre.