A Normandy veteran, from Corscombe, has celebrated his 100th birthday under lockdown conditions.

John Coombs was in Berlin for his 25th birthday to witness the Second World War come to an end. 75 years later, on Tuesday May 5, he celebrated the milestone in isolation in accordance with the government guidelines.

The original plan for the occasion was a party at Fox Inn in Corscombe, which would have coincided with VE Day celebrations. However, Mr Coombs was instead kept busy with distanced visits from family, numerous well wishes, and was able to receive a video call from his son, Steve, and his family in Sydney.

John’s daughter, Sarah Girling, said: “He's been in very good spirits, he’s received his message from the Queen and we took round some birthday cake and some bubbly. He has also received a lot of cards and messages from people on the Normandy Veterans Facebook page, which is really touching.

“He's very well set up for this situation, he has big French doors going on the patio, so we opened them up and shouted happy birthday at him from a safe distance.

“He has the most amazing mind, considering his age. He's active on Facebook and sends me texts every morning, he does all his banking online and everything."

Mr Coombs served in the British military throughout the Second World War, playing a part in a number of major battles including El Alamein.

He was a member of the 7th Armoured Division of the British Army, better known as the ‘Desert Rats’ for their exploits in the Western Desert Campaign.

Mrs Girling continued: “He’ll certainly be celebrating on Friday. It’s a big deal for someone of his age and let's face it, there isn't all that many of them left, so I'm sure that we'll all be celebrating.

“It's a shame we can't have the party in the pub for him on VE Day but we'll definitely be doing it when the pub eventually reopens.”