A WOMAN who became a familiar face to road-users over almost three decades is motoring on at the age of 100.

Beth Driver celebrated with a family lunch on Sunday and a visit from the Mayor of Durham yesterday.

Councillor Jeff Lodge called at Hallgarth Nursing Home, in Hallgarth Street, Durham, with a bouquet and a congratulatory card for Mrs Driver.

He also swapped notes with her only son, William, who is visiting with his wife, Audrey, from his home in Montreal, Canada. Coun Lodge lived in Canada for three years.

Mr Driver said his mother had a great time, with 24 relatives attending Sunday's lunch at Mount Oswald Golf Club, in Durham, and another gathering at the home, yesterday.

Born one of eight children in Browney Colliery, near Durham, she moved to Chester-le-Street, and after marriage to husband Walter, they took over the Rose Tree Filling Station, alongside the River Wear Bridge, on the A177 at Shincliffe, in 1935.

They lived in the adjoining house, Ormeside, and after her husband's death from meningitis, in 1940, she ran the business until 1963.

Son William's last act before emigrating with Audrey, his wife then of only a week, was to help sell the business, in 1963.

Mrs Driver has enjoyed a long retirement, remaining at Ormeside until 1995 and moving into the home in 2001.

Longevity runs in the family as her elder brother, Simon Knowles, died at the age of 106.