THE Mayor of Camden was taken to hospital by ambulance on Saturday night suffering chest pains days after becoming embroiled in allegations over benefit fraud. Cllr Omar Faruque Ansari is now recovering at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead where he has

THE Mayor of Camden was taken to hospital by ambulance on Saturday night suffering chest pains days after becoming embroiled in allegations over benefit fraud.

Cllr Omar Faruque Ansari is now recovering at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead where he has undergone various tests.

He was arrested last Monday and questioned by officials from the Department for Work and Pensions over alleged disability benefit fraud. He was released without charge but was later suspended by the Liberal Democrat party.

He denies any wrong doing and has vowed to prove his innocence while continuing as the Mayor of Camden.

But on Friday the council decided that Deputy Mayor Cllr Lulu Mitchell would carry out any mayoral engagements and removed the support services from Cllr Ansari, who remains the borough's first citizen, because the situation is detrimentally impacting upon the functioning of the Mayoralty.

Deputy leader of the Lib Dems Cllr Janet Grauberg said: "I visited Faruque on Sunday afternoon in the Royal Free Hospital.

"He told me that on Saturday he had been feeling unwell and suffering chest pains. He said that his doctor had visited him at home and then arranged for an ambulance to take him to the Royal Free, where he said he'd been undergoing various tests.

"I gave him a get well card on behalf of the group and we chatted for 10 minutes or so. He obviously appreciated the visit and he asked me to send his best wishes to everyone.

"Clearly this has been a very stressful week for him. We all wish him a very speedy recovery.