ALL three main political parties will be contesting town council by-elections in Huntingdon and St Neots on July 6. In Huntingdon, two North ward councillors resigned in April, too late for the by-elections to coincide with the May 4 district council poll

ALL three main political parties will be contesting town council by-elections in Huntingdon and St Neots on July 6.

In Huntingdon, two North ward councillors resigned in April, too late for the by-elections to coincide with the May 4 district council polls.

Former mayor Pat Leach can no longer serve her constituents from her new home in Utah, USA, and Diane Chambers left for personal reasons following a close family bereavement.

In St Neots, one of the Eynesbury seats became vacant when Lib Dem Patricia Hopewell moved to nearby Bedfordshire.

The party, which is increasingly critical of the Conservatives' absentee members hanging on to seats until the last possible moment - Utah, Brisbane and Skegness are offered as examples - insisted on her leaving the town council.

Tories, LibDem and Labour will each field two candidates for the two Huntingdon seats, and one for Eynesbury.

Conservatives are offering Brian John Luckman and Margaret Wheeler in Huntingdon North, with constituency chairman Peter Fleming and former Hinchingbrooke School caretaker Roy Purchase for the Lib Dems.

Labour offers David Michael Brown and David Mitchell King.

The Lib Dem hopeful to retain the Eynesbury seat is former serviceman Andrew Boulton, with James Richard Clark (Conservative) and William Francis O'Connor) seeking to deny him.