Villagers in Potterne turned out in force today to ensure Lenny Holloway celebrated his hundredth birthday in style.

This afternoon afternoon hundreds of people turned out at Potterne Village Hall for a community party celebrating the life of the centenarian, who arrived in a vintage Austin car.

A variety of events and entertainment took place including performances from the Potterne Church Choir, Five Lane School children singing songs from the 1940s, the Salisbury Military Wives Choir and a This is Your Life-style presentation.

Mr Holloway said: “The party was fantastic and I am abit overwhelmed with the amount of people that have turned up.

“My secret to a long life is to have a whisky a day and to always keep active.

“I love dancing and I don’t know why more young men don’t do it.

Teresa Chandler, who was the main organiser, said: “I have known Lenny all my life and Potterne is such a tight knit community, everyone in the village knows him. It made sense to have a party like this so that people could pop in and wish Lenny a happy birthday.”

As Mr Holloway has spent more than 50 years as part of the Royal British Legion in Wiltshire, six standard bearers from across the county and a bugler attended the party to salute him.

Mr Holloway was born in London on February 3 1915 and was the third of seven children.

After leaving school at 14 Mr Holloway worked as a page boy in a London hotel and then and bakery before setting up his own window cleaning business.

In the Second World War he was posted to Scotland where he met his future wife Doris, a Wren who had been posted there from Devizes.

They married in St John’s Church, Devizes, in February 1942 and lived in London before moving to Wiltshire in 1947.

Mr Holloway had various jobs including working in the Avon Rubber Works in Melksham along with running the hardware shop in Potterne with Mrs Holloway.

The couple had five children and were married for more than 60 years before Mrs Holloway passed away in 2004.

Mr Holloway is thought to be one of the oldest skittles players in Britain, after playing at his local The George and Dragon for more than 40 years.

He still lives independently at his home in Potterne although he has plenty of visits from his five children, 24 grandchildren, 31 great grandchildren and 6 great great grandchildren.