SHE was born a year after Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee - and great-great-grandmother Annie Owen was still going strong yesterday as she celebrated her 104th birthday.

The former servicewoman, who was born in Hetton-le-Hole, near Sunderland, in 1898, but has spent much of her life in York, marked the occasion with a family party.

Mrs Owen, whose late husband, John, was once at the centre of a dramatic rescue after a mining accident in South Yorkshire, was surrounded by loved ones at her grandson's home in Copmanthorpe.

Mrs Owen can recall each of the individual dates of birth of her 18 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

She now lives in an Acomb nursing home, where she is regularly visited by the four generations of her family.

Grandson Mike Jones said: "She finds it hard to read now, but she's still as bright as a button and enjoys listening to the radio."