North Jesmond Liberal Democrat councillor Peter Andras has stepped down from his seat, triggering a by-election which will be held next month.

Newcastle City Council announced Cllr Andras’ resignation yesterday, saying he had stepped down “for career reasons.”

Cllr Andras was not available for futher comment; JesmondLocal was unable to contact Liberal Democrat councillors Peter Breakey and Catherine Pagan for information.

A by-election for his vacant North Jesmond seat will take place on August 28th, Newcastle City Council said. The last day for residents to register to vote in the by-election is August 11th; prospective postal voters have until 5pm on August 12th to register.

Cllr Andras, a researcher at Newcastle University’s School of Computing Science, won his seat by a narrow margin of 100 votes in 2011. He unsuccessfully stood for election as Police and Crime Commissioner in November 2012, finishing fourth. Andras campaigned for the renovation of underground water pipes beneath Jesmond, which he believed were responsible for regular flooding in the area.

Update 7:50pm, July 24th: JesmondLocal reader Tom King passes on information that indicates Andras will be moving to take up a post as a professor at Keele University, near Newcastle-under-Lyme.