A SPECIAL birthday party was worth the three month wait for Alice Dorrington who belatedly celebrated her centenary this week.

Mrs Dorrington turned 100 on May 24 but her original party plans had to be postponed after she fell and had to spend her birthday in hospital.

Yesterday, friends and family gathered at Grayson Grange sheltered accommodation, in Spennymoor, to celebrate her birthday and speedy recovery.

Mrs Dorrington, who is originally from Marsden, Kent, spent most of her life in London working as a machinist and an office tea lady.

She moved to the complex in 1998 when one of her two daughters, Beryl Wild, moved to nearby Byers Green.

Her other daughter, Pat Shirley, lives outside the area