Pensioner Bessie Thorne will be honoured by the Queen next month for her years of service to the community.

Mrs Thorne, 84, devotes many hours each week to visiting people in Didcot Hospital and the Meadows Nursing Home.

She is also chairman of Didcot Pensioners Club where she helps organise lunches and outings and even acts as bingo caller.

She has been highly commended in the local hero category of Help the Aged's Living Legends Awards and has been invited to a special royal celebration with the Queen at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, May 3.

Other guests at the awards evening, part of the Queen's 80th birthday celebrations, will include Cilla Black, actress June Whitfield and TV presenter Tess Daly.

Mrs Thorne said: "Over the years I have always visited people but I am sure there are others who do more than I do."

Mrs Thorne has been active in many groups and organisations for more than 20 years and still rides her bicycle to events across the town.

She added: "I was left on my own when my husband died in 1978 and I felt I had to do something. It's for my benefit as well, it keeps me active."

Mrs Thorne said she was looking forward to the awards evening with the Queen.

June Whitfield, who judged the BT-sponsored award, said: "Bessie really is a remarkable person with extraordinary energy. By developing a befriending scheme, and all her other activities, she has touched the lives of so many people within her community."