Abstinence could be a recipe for longevity, if Rose Ann Morton is anything to go by.

Mrs Morton, a resident at Shoreline nursing home, in Redcar, celebrated her 100th birthday yesterday with staff and residents who threw her a party.

She put the secret of her long life down to one spent without cigarettes and drinking only the occasional sherry.

Mrs Morton has outlived her husband, who died 35 years ago and her son who died in 1993.

A niece, two nephews and their children and grandchildren make up the family.