A sprightly Sittingbourne woman has just turned 100.

Ethel Baldock was thrown a party by friends and well-wishers at Age UK’s Heather House Day Centre in the town’s Avenue of Remembrance.

Many turned out to wish her a happy birthday on the occasion, including Swale Mayor George Bobbin.

The centenarian, who lives in Rock Road in Sittingbourne, arrived at her bash armed with a big conversation starter – her signed card from the Queen and a telegram from Work and Pensions Minister Iain Duncan Smith.

Ethel’s daughter, Freda Willis, 76, who lives with her mother and acts as her full-time carer, said: “It was absolutely marvellous – she didn’t expect anything.

“Wayne and his staff did such a wonderful job and she was thrilled to bits.

“When the mayor came in she was quite bemused because she didn’t recognise him – she doesn’t have Alzheimer’s, she just has so much in her brain!”

Ethel was born in the year of the outbreak of the First World War and has lived in the area her entire life. Alongside helping her mother raise her seven siblings, she started working when she was 13 and when the Second World War broke out she helped make flying boats in Rochester.

After that, she worked a number of jobs until she retired at 70, including her time as a ‘clippy’ (bus conductor) in the Maidstone area.

Age UK’s Sittingbourne branch manager, Wayne Cooksey, who helped organise the celebration, said: “It has been a considerable amount of time since we last celebrated a 100th birthday.

“She had a nice day – it was really good.

“A lot of the day was thanks to everyone who helped – the chefs, drivers, volunteers and the carers.

“Ethel really enjoyed herself.”