WARM tributes have been paid to one of the region's oldest residents after she died at the incredible age of 108.

Lillian Bell, of Darlington, passed away on Saturday after suffering with a chest infection for the past month.

The staunch Labour supporter, who was well-known to town MP Alan Milburn and recently received a personal letter from Prime Minister Tony Blair, died at the Moorlands Care Home.

Mrs Bell, Darlington's oldest resident, would have been 109 in May and always attributed her longevity to steering clear of alcohol and cigarettes.

Appropriately, it was former Health Secretary Mr Milburn who led the tributes to her last night.

He said: "She was the most marvellous character, a grand old lady who really lived life to the full.

"My thoughts are with her family and she will be very sadly missed by all her friends at the home."

Born in Esh Winning, County Durham, in 1897, Mrs Bell lived in three centuries.

In her earlier life, she lived in Potton and Cranfield, in Bedfordshire.

After moving back to Darlington, she ran a Sunday newsagents' business from her home in Widdowfield Street, often delivering all of the newspapers herself.

She later made the short move to Barningham Street and spent the past four years at Moorlands.

Mrs Bell, whose husband George died in 1967, aged 74, lived independently at home until she was 104.

Her daughter, Nancy Hutchinson, said: "I can't think there will have been many people older than her. She was a non-smoker and a non-drinker and she reckoned that was the secret of her long life.

"She got a letter from Tony Blair just a very short while ago, saying he would come to visit her when he was next up here. She was so thrilled with that.

"Moorlands have been very caring. She was absolutely with it, right to the end."

David Smith, of the Moorlands home, said: "She's always been very alert and active.

"On her last two or three birthdays, she's had Alan Milburn visit because she was such a staunch Labour supporter.

"She's certainly been a very popular resident."

She leaves her daughter, Mrs Hutchinson, and two sons - John, who lives in New Zealand, and Barry. Mrs Bell was also a grandmother and great-grandmother.