They’re bold, bronzed and bleached to their roots. Meet five British women who’ve turned their backs on the UK for the sun-kissed stretches of the Costa del Sol.

Marbella Belles – a new six part documentary series for ITV1 with narration from Dennis Waterman – gives a glimpse of life in that little bit of Spain that will be forever England.

All five women have different lives, but share one thing in common. They have escaped the high streets of Essex, London and Leeds to re-establish themselves along the rich golden mile in luxury resorts Marbella and Puerto Banus.

Among them is lady of leisure, Lisa Johnson, who has a one-year-old boy called Blue. Retirement has come early for the high maintenance Essex girl thanks to her husband’s hefty bank balance and round the clock help from maid, Lin-Lin. Lin-Lin sees to the less glamorous aspects of motherhood like changing Blue’s nappy and feeding him while 38–year–old Lisa keeps up to speed with her rigourous beauty schedule.

Louise Marriot owns the beauty salon that Lisa spends a lot of her time in – Posh – which stands for ‘P****d Off, Stressed & Hormonal’. Louise upped sticks and left Buckinghamshire for Marbella with her three children after a string of failed marriages and is now embarking on her second salon, 2 Posh, and a new romance with a very wealthy ex pat called Jeff.

With such wealth and exuberance it’s vital the belles look their best and Louise Truelove, or Truelove as she’s known, focuses her time on the more permanent side of cosmetic enhancement, as a patient co-ordinator for an exclusive plastic surgery clinic. Truelove moved to Spain after the love of her life left her for “a 53-year-old grandmother.”

Party girl Jo Alexandrou arrived in Spain six years ago for a holiday and ended up staying for good becoming a fixture on the Puerto Banus party circuit.

Reflecting on her first year on the Costa, Jo says: “We’ve got High Society magazine out here, like the Spanish ‘OK’ or ‘Hello’, and I was in it every month partying!”

And last but by no means least is Barbara Fawcett or ‘Barbs’, who arrived in Spain two years ago and owns posh café Madhatters, which serves up the best traditional English food. Barbs has never married and believes she will find her Mr Right on the Costa.

Marbella Belles provides a snapshot insight into what it’s like living the high life in the posh town of Puerto Banus, where designer shops and celebrity hideouts line every street and being preened and beautifully turned out is essential.

The women are determined to bag themselves a man with a loaded wallet. It’s a place to see and be seen – where a bad hairdo or a chipped nail is a cardinal sin!

They’ve run to the sun to better their lives but is life on the Costa all they thought it would be?

This series will air on Tuesday 20th March on ITV1