Mary Holmes was joined by family yesterday as she celebrated her 100th birthday in style.

Former seamstress Mrs Holmes, whose maiden name was Rose, was born on September 25, 1911. She now lives at Sotwell Hill House in Brightwell-cum-Sotwell and her family visited her to celebrate her special day with a tea party.

She said: “It is rather nice but I don’t want a big fuss.

“I wouldn’t know how I have made it to this age. I have done nothing special, I just kept on.

“I can’t understand how I have got to this stage, but I am here so you have got to make the most of it.”

She was born in Lancashire and lived on a farm before moving to Oxfordshire 11 years ago when her husband Ted Holmes died.

Mrs Holmes is pictured with her daughter Jeanne Felmingham, 76, who lives in Grove, and grandsons Stephen, 52, and Tim, 49, Felmingham.