Former mayor dies at 60

Former Mayor of Kidderminster and long-serving councillor Michael Oborski has died at the age of 60 after battling against cancer.

The Wyre Forest Liberal group leader died at the Priory Hospital in Birmingham yesterday with his wife, Fran, also a councillor, by his side.

She said today: "Mike always had time for people and will be very sorely missed."

Councillor Oborski, of Osborne Close, Offmore, had been fighting the condition since August 2005 when he was diagnosed with colon cancer.

Last April he was given the all-clear but in December doctors discovered small inoperable tumours in his lungs and liver.

Despite the devastating news, Councillor Oborski remained defiant and vowed to carry on his work.

His other roles included being a governor of Comberton Middle School and of Comberton, Offmore and Lea Street First Schools which he managed to combine with 26 years as a teacher.

He also campaigned for the cancer drug Avastin to be supplied on the NHS. Avastin was a drug he was taking through medical insurance and he believed it gave him extra time.

One of his last public appearances was at his beloved Polish Club in St George's Terrace, Kidderminster, for the Holocaust Memorial Day service on January 27.

Councillor Oborski, who had no children, worked tirelessly right up until his death and urged his wife to carry on working during their last conversation, she revealed today.

Fellow Liberal district Councillor Siri Hayward said: "Mike had an amazing political brain and could see things no one else could. He was a giant of a man and his death saddens us all."

By Sol Buckner