A KEEN cyclist celebrates his 100th birthday tomorrow (June 13) by doing what he does every day – cycling to the shops on his tricycle and buying a newspaper.

Wilf Westbrook, from Stokesley, has not let reaching his centenary put him off his love of cycling.

Born on Levenside, Stokesley, ge began cycling as a child, when he was sent to collect sticks before breakfast to start the fire to cook their breakfast porridge.

“I’ve always been active and I have been very lucky with my health,” he said.

“These days I have a bit of a dodgy knee but otherwise I am fine. You just have to keep on going.”

From the early 1900’s, his father Arthur worked as a chauffeur in the town for a local industrialist, and was a soldier during the First World War.

Wilf was four-years-old when the war ended and his father returned to set up a garage in the town.

In his early teens, he earned money delivering Sunday newspapers on his bike in the villages around Stokesley, including Kildale, Easby and Broughton.

At 14, he left school to work an apprentice joiner before moving to work for a caravan-building firm near St Albans.

His love of cycling resulted in him becoming a member of the Uxbridge Bicycle Polo Club in 1946 and 12 years later moved back to North Yorkshire, where he helped his father in the business and married late wife Lily.

His niece, Pat Askins said until recently her uncle had had a dog, which sat in the cart on the back of the tricycle.

“My uncle is inspirational and a much loved character in Stokesley. I think some people have no idea that he is heading for his 100th birthday because he is so active,” she said.