A TOWN stalwart has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Elsie Gant, who was born in Thorpe Road, Kirby Cross, on August 14, 1914, marked her centenary at the Asher House nursing home, in Third Avenue, Walton, on Monday.

Mrs Gant lived in the house where she was born until she married. She went to Kirby Cross school until she was 14 and later became a nanny in Frinton.

She met husband Horace in Frinton in 1932 and they married in December 1938.

The couple then moved to the Gant family home in Alfred Terrace, where she lived with Horace until he died in 1985.

During the Second World War, Mrs Gant took in evacuees and helped out at the YMCA, making teas and sandwiches for soldiers.

She remained in the house, which had belonged to the family for more than 120 years, until 2013 when she moved to the care home following a fall.

Daughter Susan Firmin said: “She is a very social person and used to attend day care centres and churches. She is now being well care for.”

Mrs Gant has two daughters, three grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Family and friends marked her birthday with a party at the home.