THERE are not enough hours in the day to be a councillor, have a family and hold down a full-time job.

That’s the message from Bob Timbs, who represents Lye Valley on Oxford City Council, as he announced he will stand down next May.

Mr Timbs was elected at a by-election in 2006 and has been the council’s lead figure for leisure and parks and, more recently, crime.

But the father of three and grandfather of two, who works at Unipart, said he did not have enough time to devote to the role.

Mr Timbs said: “It’s like having two full-time jobs.

“I love doing my council work, but you come home from work tired out, then go off to meetings sometimes until 10pm. It’s a lot of pressure and it’s been affecting my work and family life.”

He estimated he spent up to 35 hours a week on council work, a mix of meetings, e-mails, dealing with issues raised by people living in his ward and canvassing.

He said: “You have a lot of councillors who are basically retired and have all the time in the world to go out and see people, but with my work I can’t keep going out during the day.”

He said he had “great support” from his employers but found it difficult to attend daytime meetings.

Mr Timbs added: “You need the young councillors with enthusiasm and new ideas, and older councillors with wise heads and experience.

“I don’t think there is anything that can be done, you just have to work round it the best you can.”

There is no minimum time commitment for councillors, only a pledge they must be “selfless”.

By law employers must give elected councillors a “reasonable” amount of time off to carry out their duties. But that time off is usually unpaid.

Craig Simmons, formerly leader of the Green group on Oxford City Council, quit the council in May 2010 to focus on work commitments.

He has a daughter, Berenice, and his wife, Elise Benjamin, is the current lord mayor. He said it was even more more difficult for parents because of childcare pressures.

Mr Simmons said councillors’ allowances in Oxford were lower than other similar authorities, a factor which could act as a deterrent.

He said: “Every councillor has to make a judgement as to how much you do and how much you drop.

“We sit down and plan our diaries each week, work out childcare and which meetings we need to attend.

“It’s a constant time-management issue.”

He said more administrative support, a more generous allowance, consideration of the timings of meetings and flexibility of responsibilities could open the role up to more people.

Council leader Bob Price said Mr Timbs had been a “fantastic representative of the people”.

He said it was “extremely difficult” to juggle family, work and council commitments and called for a law so employers provided paid time off for council duties, reimbursed by the Government.