Three men – and one woman – are the newly elected civic heads for the four Fenland towns.

They have either become mayor of their respective town or, as in one case, asked to continue in office for a second year.

Councillor Ralph Butcher is the new mayor of Whittlesey and is a familiar figure in the area both as a coal man (he retired from business in 2008) or as a member of the town council, district council and county council.

He is also a former chairman of Fenland District Council.

Across in Wisbech, Councillor Steve Tierney takes on the mantle of mayor on Friday after a year as deputy mayor to Councillor Garry Tibbs. Cllr Tierney is both a town and district councillor and recently won a seat back on the c0unty council.

Among Cllr Tierney’s interests he lists being proprietor of Madhouse Games and chairman of Wisbech Citizen’s Patrol.

In March the newly elected mayor is Councillor Kim French who will have her mother Jan, also a councillor, along to serve as her deputy.

Cllr Kim French is a member of March Town Council and after serving as deputy for the past year this will be her first time as mayor – her mother has been mayor four times, the first occasion back in 1992.

As mayor Kim is planning a hectic round of charity fund raising – including a sky dive later in the year.

In Chatteris town councillor Bill Haggata has begun his second year as mayor; he was co-opted to the council in November 2014, stood for election the following year and was unopposed.

He is a familiar figure in the town with his work for Chatteris Museum and the community archive team.