A 104-year-old Hexham woman celebrated her birthday in style on Tuesday.

Susan Miller was born in Newsham near Blyth on June 20, 1913, and having lived through two world wars and her century milestone, she’s still living life to the full.

One of the oldest people in Tynedale, Susan makes sure she always looks fabulous. She asked her family to kit her out in a new outfit for Tuesday’s special occasion and regularly watches fashion shows on TV.

After moving around the country for work, including working as a housemaid in London and in a canteen at an RAF station near York during World War Two, Susan found herself the job of her dreams at Butlin’s holiday park in Filey.

“It was great there because I wasn’t in the kitchen,” she explained.

“I was where the holidaymakers, selling ice cream, and when there were things left we were allowed to take it. I loved it there.”

Eventually she moved back to her mother’s house in Newsham, before coming to Hexham to visit her sister Ann in the late 1940s – and never returned.

She worked in the kitchen at Hexham General Hospital and soon met her husband Robert, from Acomb, on a blind date. They married in 1953.

After having their only son, Peter, now 62, she took on cleaning jobs in the Hexham area, becoming well known at the Hydro. The former hydropathic hotel is now part of Queen Elizabeth High School.

Although she has now lost the use of her legs, Susan said she was still going out shopping at 99, until a nasty fall saw her spend a lot of time in hospital.

Robert died in 2007, and Susan has been living at her current home at Acomb Court residential home for around two years.

On Tuesday, family and friends gathered with presents and cards in Acomb Court to wish Susan a happy birthday – although she was unhappy about missing some of Royal Ascot on the television.

“It’s very good in here; I never regret moving in,” she said.

“I watch the TV and I still have all my senses. I like to read the daily paper, but I don’t do as much reading as I used to.”

She credits her good health to lots of walking in her younger years and eating a healthy diet.

And family say despite a serious chest infection a few weeks ago, Susan brushed it off as “just a cough” and swiftly got over it.