A LITTLE drop of what you fancy at the end of a day's hard work is the recipe for a long life, according to a centenarian.

Ethel Carse, who lives at The Orchards, the Durham County Council extra-care home at Brandon, celebrated her 100th birthday yesterday with a buffet and entertainment with her family and fellow residents.

Mrs Carse was born at Esh Winning and later moved to Yorkshire to work as a servant for a mill owner.

In 1929, she married Robert Carse and the couple had four children, three girls and a boy.

Mr Carse died in 1970.

A spokeswoman for the home said Mrs Carse was a keen dressmaker when younger and a regular attender of a church, where she was a volunteer cleaner.

"Ethel's secret of long life is hard work and a tot of Baileys for a nightcap,'' she said.