GREAT-GREAT grandmother Doris Hyde has spent every one of her 102 years living in Abingdon.

Mrs Hyde was born in Thames Street in 1910 and celebrated her latest birthday over a century later alongside more than 20 friends and family at the Old Station House care home.

She is thought to be the oldest person in the town.

But she said she still felt young, adding: “I feel no different from when I was 21, other than having lots of grandchildren and great-grandchildren scattered all over England.

“I am proud to have always lived in Abingdon.

“I have seen so many changes over the years, but I am very proud to be born and bred an Abingdonian.”

When asked the secret to her grand age she said: “I was the eldest of 11 which meant there was always something going on which kept me active and interested.”

When she was 14, Mrs Hyde’s first job was as a van driver, delivering laundry and fruit and vegetables.

But most of her life she worked as an auxiliary nurse at hospitals including Oxford’s John Radcliffe.

She retired at 73 and lived independently in her home in Boxhill Walk until she moved to the care home nine years ago.

Home manager Carol Flynn said: “She’s lovely. She is very friendly and very chatty.

“She seems to be thriving after getting to 100. She is enjoying her old age.

“And she really likes to celebrate each birthday as it comes.”

“She is a delight. She is a lovely resident and all the staff just love her.”

Mrs Hyde (nee Trebble) had five children with her late husband Jack who worked at a Wilsham Road laundry for more than 50 years before he died in the late 1960s. She has 10 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren, and six great-great-grandchildren.

Town mayor Monica Lovatt presented her with flowers and a book about the town on her birthday.

She said: “It’s quite something to live to 102.

“She will have seen lots of changes. Abingdon has grown from quite a small little town in those days and it now has over 35,000 people.”