AN HISTORIC Dorset market town has welcomed a new mayor for the civic year. 

Starting this month, Cllr Diann March will take over from Cllr Carol Butter as the mayor of Wimborne Minster. 

Two charities will benefit from her term as mayor, as she focuses on raising money for Wimborne Model Town and Riding for the Disabled Association. 

The former is a 1/10th scale of the centre of Wimborne open since the 1950s with the latter a charity which helps more than 17,000 disabled children and adults through horse riding and fitness skills. 

Cllr March moved to Dorset with her husband in 1976 and was first elected as a Wimborne town councillor in 1991. 

She has interests in Wimborne Musical Theatre and volunteers at Green Cottage Riding for the Disabled, the Repair Cafe run by Wimborne War on Waste and the Café at the Allendale Centre. 

The new deputy mayor for Wimborne Minster Town Council is Cllr Simon Wheeler, a resident of the town for more than 40 years and runner of the town’s band The Quarterjacks.