EVEN though the Conservatives swept up at this month’s local council elections, there were three prominent names missing from the ballot sheets in Potters Bar.

Town stalwarts Eddie Roach, Shirley Legate and Christine Calcutt all decided to step down as Hertsmere Borough Councillors ahead of the election on May 6, paving the way for three new Conservative faces to take over the reins.

Mr Roach, 79, said he felt the time was right to go.

“I was quite happy to step down,” said the former Parkfield ward councillor.

“I’ve been there 16 years. Some people like to hang on for as long as they can, but I’d made my mind up some time ago to step down.”

First elected as an independent councillor in 1994, Mr Roach later crossed the floor to join the Conservatives, and served as deputy mayor of Hertsmere twice, and as mayor once.

“That was a bittersweet year,” Mr Roach said, recalling his time as mayor in 2003/04.

“My wife [Pamela] died three months after I got the mayoralty.”

Mr Roach plans to stay on as a county councillor, having represented Potters Bar East on that authority since 2005.

Meanwhile Mrs Legate decided not to seek re-election in the Oakmere ward after 11 years in order to concentrate on her work in the health and social care sector.

“I’m not really going anywhere,” said Mrs Legate.

“I just want to see if there’s life outside of council work!”

And after more than 10 years as a Furzefield ward councillor, Mrs Calcutt said it was time “to let new blood come”.

“I’m sure after a while I’ll miss it,” said Mrs Calcutt, who was first elected in 1999 along with her husband Robert.

“Old habits die hard!”