WHEN Vera Yorke was born, the 20th Century was still in the future.

As she entered the world, Queen Victoria was still on the throne, Lord Salisbury was Prime Minister and William McKinley was US president.

But while those famous names have all long since been consigned to history, Mrs Yorke yesterday celebrated her 107th birthday.

She was born in Merseyside in 1898 and worked as a secretary until she married. She has two children, Veronica and Reginald, was widowed in the early 1970s and moved to North Yorkshire a few years later.

Now, she is the oldest resident in Rockingham House, Malton, and is the head of a family that includes 11 grandchildren and 17 great-grandchildren.

Daughter Veronica Valentine, of Fryton, Malton, North Yorkshire, believes her mother is a prime example of the benefits of eating sensibly and taking exercise.

She said: "Mum comes from a time when there wasn't any packaged food, and so she cooked sensible meals with plenty of vegetables. When she was young, she enjoyed gymnastics, dancing, singing and playing her violin, and she has always been active, walking everywhere. She has also never smoked."