A MAYOR has cancelled all his engagements for a month as he gets ready for a hip operation.

Today, Coun John Williams revealed he had hoped to undergo the half hip replacement operation at the end of his mayoral year -- but the pain had become too much.

Blackburn with Darwen's Conservative Mayor has arranged to have the operation in January and expects to be out of action for about a month. He is the second mayor in East Lancashire to put his official duties on hold this year, after Hyndburn's first citizen, Coun Dave Parkins, was struck down with a viral infection.

Coun Williams' hip operation -- which he is paying for privately to save waiting -- is not a full hip replacement, but a partial one, where a pin is inserted in the joint to help it work more effectively.

"It is officially called a half hip operation and they just work on the joint to make it move better," said Coun Williams, who serves the Pleasington ward on the council.

"Like most hip operations, it has come about through having arthritis. I knew I needed the operation but I had hoped to wait until the end of my Mayoral Year.

"It has become too much, so I have arranged the operation privately and it will be carried out in Birmingham."

The borough's Deputy Mayor, Tony Humphrys, who recently married in the council chamber, will take over civic duties for about a month.

Coun Williams added: "I hope to be back in time for the council meeting at the end of January and will be attending some sit-down events."

Coun Williams has recently launched a hunt for Blackburn's missing Mayoral chains, which were stolen in 1980. A hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the diseased parts of the hip joint are removed and replaced with new artificial parts.

The artificial replacement parts are called prosthesis.

It is aimed at improving mobility for patients and also easing their pain, as the joint is very painful before the operation.

The surgeon replaces the ball (femur) and the socket (acetabulum) with the new artificial parts, of a plastic cup and a metal ball.

The operation lasts two to three hours and many patients are already able to move about within hours of coming out of surgery.

It is considered one of the most successful orthopaedic operations as thousands are carried out every day and in most cases patients have made a complete recovery within within 10 days.

The Queen Mum is Britain's most famous hip op recipient -- she's had two.