Great-gran Vera Heath was 100 yesterday and has marked the occasion with a surprise party surrounded by her family and friends.

The mother-of-three moved to Froxfield from London in 1944, after marrying Stanley Heath.

They had met at the Plough in Shalbourne while she was in the area visiting friends who had been evacuated from London during the Second World War.

Shortly after they married, the couple moved into a house in Bath Road, Froxfield, near Mr Heath’s James Farm workplace.

Before Mr Heath’s death in 2007, they lived in Burbage, while their children lived in nearby villages.

Her family threw a surprise party on Sunday, at Combe End Court, Marlborough, where Mrs Heath now lives.

Her three sons – Brian, Colin and Derek – four of her six grandchildren and other relatives and friends joined her.

Daughter-in-law Christine Heath said: “She is very sweet and kind. Everybody loves her and she really remembers everything.”