THE oldest resident of Newton Aycliffe has died only days short of her 104th birthday.

Jessie Farrow, who lived in Defoe Court Nursing Home, achieved her ambition of seeing the new millennium.

Her great-nephew, Anthony Parkin, said: "She always said she'd be happy to live through three centuries."

Originally from South Shields, Mrs Farrow spent most of her adult life in London before moving to Newton Aycliffe in the 1970s with her late husband Ted.

She lived in her own house until the age of 100.

On her 100th birthday, in 1997, Mrs Farrow said the secret of her long life was not smoking, drinking only on special occasions and eating four digestive biscuits and a banana every morning.

A funeral service for Mrs Farrow will be held at Stephenson Way Cemetery, Newton Aycliffe, on Monday, at 1.30pm