Three little pigs have come to town… led by their mum “Gertrude”.

The wild boars are in fact a sculpture by renowned artist Helen Denerley.

Gertrude and her family occupy a spot at Westhill Shopping Centre on the corner of Westhill Drive and Old Skene Road.

Helen took her inspiration from the parish of Skene, which the hamlet of Westhill originally belonged to.

She said: “The idea came from a story about King Malcolm Canmore, who, while hunting in the forest, was attacked by a wild boar.

“The man who saved him used a dagger like weapon called a skian, hence the name Skene.

“The land was then gifted to him.”

A steering committee was asked if they would have preferred a sculpture of a male wild boar or a female with piglets.

Helen said: “They chose the latter as it was felt that the village has a large proportion of women and children at home while the men work away, often in the oil industry.”

In Doric, a baby boar is known as a “shoalt”.