A former councillor who was badly injured in a fall over seafront railings almost ten years ago is making a comeback to the political fray.

Bob Bailey, 47, gave up his seat as a Liberal Democrat councillor for Hove's Brunswick ward three years after the 20ft fall on Brighton seafront in December 1993.

He called it a day in 1997 after Brighton and Hove became a unitary authority.

He has since been helping run Dog's Life, a successful dog walking and caring business in Hove.

Bob was a popular councillor who nearly always topped the poll wherever he stood.

Some residents in Hove affectionately nicknamed him "Cliff Richard" because of his boyish good looks.

He will now be fighting to return as a full-time Brighton and Hove councillor in the Goldsmid ward.

He will be standing with fellow Liberal Democrat candidates Jo Lake, a former East Sussex county councillor, and Ron Bakere, who works for the Citizen's Advice Bureau. They have already started campaigning for the May 1 elections.

The trio will run against three well-known Labour councillors, Simon Battle, responsible for implementing the city's parking policy, Frieda Warman-Brown, known for her education work and former mayor Betty Walshe.

The Conservatives and other parties have not announced their candidates.

Bob, who has completely recovered from his trauma following treatment at the Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre, Haywards Heath, said: "The past few years have been hard and those that know me knew that I was not myself for much of the time.

"The injuries forced me to give up my job with the Benefits Agency and my seat on the council.

"I stuck to the regime the brilliant medical staff at Hurstwood Park gave me and gradually got back into the swing of things.

"I have missed being on the council. I miss going to the shops and not being asked to take up such and such a cause.

"I have now moved into a flat in Furze Hill in the centre of Goldsmid ward.

"There are so many issues, especially the problems of parking and unauthorised rubbish dumping, that I want to take up and make life better for this part of Hove.

"I want people to say, as they used to in Brunswick, 'Go and see Bob Bailey, he will sort it out for you'."