THE chief executive of Bolton Council Paul Najsarek has shocked staff after quitting just five months into the job.

Mr Najsarek has left the authority and the borough with immediate effect — stating that he needs to “prioritise” his home life.

Mr Najsarek, who succeeded Sean Harriss as the council’s top officer in May, moved from Harrow Council in London to take up the £160,000 job in Bolton.

In a statement, he told staff he was “very sorry” to be leaving Bolton.

He added: “Anyone who knows me knows how important both my work and family are to me.

“At the moment I need to prioritise home life and that makes it difficult for me to stay in the North West — I wish everyone in Bolton every success in the future.”

In the wake of Mr Najsarek’s shock departure, council leader Cliff Morris has asked Margaret Asquith, the former director of children’s and adult services and deputy chief executive to take over as acting chief executive.

​Cllr Morris said: “We are sorry to announce that Paul Najsarek, the council’s chief executive will be leaving us.

“Paul has family commitments which he must prioritise at the moment and these make it hard for him to continue working in the North West at this time.

He added: “Our ambitious savings, regeneration and devolution programme is on track and Paul has done important work involving staff and partners. 

“We are sorry Paul’s time with us has been short but we understand that family must sometimes come first and we wish him well for the future.”

Mr Najsarek, a 48-year-old father-of-two, is originally from Chorlton in Manchester and at the time of his appointment he told The Bolton News he was excited to come back to his North West roots.

His brief period in the job was a turbulent one after he was given a vote of no confidence from the Unison and GMB unions because of the council’s plan to create a new company to deliver adult services in the borough.

Conservative group leader Cllr David Greenhalgh was on the interview panel that appointed Mr Najsarek back in February.

He said he was "frustrated" by the news but understood the reasons behind it.

He said: "It is very sad that to hear that Paul's family have been unable to move to the town where he was playing such a vital role.

"I don't think it is possible for a chief executive of Bolton Council to continue to live in London and while it is frustrating I understand he has to put his family first.

"We had very high expectations for Paul, he was the stand-out candidate when we carried out the interviews and it is unfortunate that he didn't have time to prove himself."

UKIP party leader, Cllr Sean Hornby has also reacted in shock to the sudden departure of a man he described as having "integrity and openness".

He said: "Paul came into the authority with a wealth of experience and was focused on putting the people of Bolton at the top of his agenda and ensuring that Bolton played a leading roll in the in the devolved powers coming from central government.

"I had a regular confidential monthly meeting with him as party leader in fact our next was scheduled for next Tuesday and I always found him to be a man of integrity and openness.

"He was very supportive with a recent bereavement on my partner's side of the family and he would talk openly about his family which where his rock.

"While shocked at his departure  I fully support his decision to leave the authority with immediate effect and I will be writing to him wishing him and his family well. 

"I support totally the council leader's decision to appoint Margaret Asquith to the acting post with immidiate effect and have every confidence she is the right person to take over in the interim."