LILY Richardson celebrated her 100th birthday on Thursday, June 8 and marked the milestone with a birthday party at Watersmead care home in Westbury on Saturday.

The centenarian was born in 1916 in the small village of Flaxley in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire and later started work as children’s nursery nurse at the nearby Flaxley Abbey.

At the age of 16 she moved to work at Woodyates near Salisbury where she met her husband, Arthur Reginald James Richardson, and married on December 27, 1941.

Mr and Mrs Richardson had two daughters, Shirley and Mary, with five grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

Daughter Mary Green, 72, said: “It was such a lovely celebration. In the dining hall they had lots of decorations out for the Queen’s birthday which looked great.

"It was just wonderful to see the whole family together with around 30 family members from Plymouth, London and Liverpool all there to celebrate mum’s birthday.

“It’s the least she deserves, she’s a remarkable woman. It was lovely to see her grandkids and great grandkids there because she has done an awful lot for them and cherishes them.

“I think the key to her longevity is the fact she always ate proper cooked food and had three meals a day. She never really drank or smoked and was never overweight.”

The 100-year-old, who was a nanny during the war and looked after evacuees, received a card from the Queen for her Diamond Anniversary with Reg in 2001 and also on June 11 to mark her birthday celebrations.