An Incredibly selfless and influential figure within the Huntingdonshire community has died at the age of 90.

Ruth Clapham MBE was a former town councillor and mayor for St Neots, a Huntingdonshire District councillor and a charity worker.

Mrs Clapham was a tremendous servant to the people of Huntingdonshire with her council and charity work touching and helping the lives of countless individuals.

She was recognised in the New Years Honors list in 1990 for her political and public service.

From acting as one of the key members instigating Hinchingbrooke Hospital's development, opening a baby ward, and to organising blood transfusions in St Neots, her passion for helping others was said to be unrivalled.

Before she made her mark in Huntingdonshire, she grew up in Austria after being born in Vienna in 1931.

The rising Hitler regime persecuted her family. Her father was imprisoned, however, he managed to escape to safety, while her mother was forced into labour work.

She taught herself English from American and English soldiers as her determined and tenacious personality shone through.

It was during a coronation party in Vienna in 1953 when working as a press liaison officer for the American Embassy that she met her future husband Adrian Clapham, a flight lieutenant.

They married in 1954 at Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna and had many postings across Europe before settling in Great Paxton in 1972, with Mrs Clapham acting as a loving mother to their three children, Martine, Michael and Simone.

Mrs Clapham was very proud of her heritage and never forgot her roots by bringing Vienna into the home, baking Austrian cakes and recipes, and naming their old home in Hemingford Abbotts, Little Vienna.

It didn't take long for Mrs Clapham to get stuck into Huntingdonshire life as she swiftly joined the Conservative Party and obtained a seat on the Priory Park Ward in 1976, which she held for 15 years, becoming chairman of housing at HDC for three terms and mayor of St Neots in 1990.

She also maintained her position on the British Red Cross charity from 1967 for 18 years and was awarded a Badge of Honour and Life Membership in 1983.

Her funeral will take place on Monday, September 5, at Buckden Towers Roman Catholic Church from 12pm.