A woman who was born a month before the end of the First World War celebrated her 100th birthday with her family.

Lena Smith from Portland celebrated her milestone birthday on Sunday, October 14.

Mrs Smith was born at her home on Portland in October 1918 where she still lives.

Her granddaughter Kerry Alexander attended the celebrations at a carvery in Axminster and said everyone had a fantastic time.

She explained: “It was lovely to spend time with her, she’s a remarkable lady – the things she has seen. When she was a young girl there was no electricity in her home. She was born at the end of the First World War and lived through the Second World War when Portland was bombed. She often tells me about it all.”

She added: “She loved the party and was very excited to see all of her family. We didn’t tell her we were all going to be coming, so she was surprised to see us.

“There were a lot of speeches and we talked about some of her memories. She just kept saying thank you to everyone.”

Kerry said her grandmother was very pleased to receive her telegram from The Queen.

She explained: “We’ve been telling her for years that she would receive a telegram from The Queen, but she just says ‘I live day by day because you never know what might happen.’

“She says ‘thank god I live to see another day. You can have all the money in the world, but money can’t buy you health’.”

She added that Mrs Smith still enjoys a tipple of sherry.

As part of the celebrations, Mrs Smith’s grandson, Jeremy Packer gave a speech about the birthday girl.

He said: “You have seen Everest being conquered, the Queen’s Coronation, JFK being assassinated. You saw the first man on the moon.

“You’ve seen the fall of the Berlin Wall. You’ve outlived Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra.

“Our family has had its fair share of hard times, but you’ve always been there. You don’t change, and you haven’ changed for any of us. Throughout everything you have been there for us.”