Dorothy Thornhill is stepping down in May after serving as Watford’s first elected mayor - and first female elected mayor in the UK - since 2002.

She has seen an enormous amount of change during her 16 years in power but told The Watford Observer she remembered feeling like an outsider when she was first elected.

She knew the town needed a new direction and so transformed the parks and open spaces with new facilities such as the Cassiobury Pools and Big Screen on the Beach.

Her highlight every year was honouring volunteers at the Audentior Awards and seeing communities work together to make the town a more positive place.

Her programme of free community events like Imagine Watford also helped to bring people together as a community.

However, not everything was easy and she often had to take tough decisions even if this meant facing backlash from the public.

This included completing the Thomas Sawyer Way and progressing the health campus project.

In October 2016, a High Court judge ruled that allotment holders would have to abandon their plots to make way for the major regeneration scheme.

The Farm Terrace allotments dated back to 1882 and those who tended their crops there - many of them elderly – furiously fought plans to develop them.

Her biggest legacy will most likely be her strong personality and fighting for what she believes will make Watford a better place, no matter what people think.

She has most certainly been the face of the town over the past 16 years but will the next mayor make as much of a lasting impact as her?