A former Brent mayor was among a group of jail birds who together raised more than £8,500 for a Kenton charity.

Cllr Parvez Ahmed agreed to take part in the annual St Luke’s Hospice ‘Jail and Bail’ fundraiser on Friday (April 20).

Nine participants braved the morning locked up in Pinner police station where all detainees were tasked with raising a minimum of £1,000 each as bail money.

The Labour representative for Dollis Hill, said: “It was a great experience for me and for a good cause. It’s the first time I was in custody so very interesting to see the systems and processes. They asked me my details and finger printed me, made me wear a white uniform then put me in the cell.”

He was full of praise for his captors adding: “There was very hot weather that day and whenever we asked for water they gave it to us. At the end of the day I got all my bail money and I thank everybody for supporting me.”