A COTSWOLD great-great-grandmother has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Vera Savage, from Bridgeman's Close in Broadway turned 100 on Saturday, May 16.

She was born in Smethwick in 1920, and was the eldest of eight children. Vera has three children, five grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandson.

Vera left school at 14 and worked at Guest, Keen & Nettlefolds. When the war started she went to work at Soho Station where she moved bombs from the trains and pushed them on to lorries to be delivered.

Her daughter, Sharon Carter, said: "She remembers the sky being flooded with barrage balloons so the planes couldn't fly low. Then when the bombs came she and her family would have to run across the road to the school to the air raid shelters."

Vera moved to Broadway in 1952 and had a number of small jobs. Then in 1969 she moved to Redditch and worked at the BSA and Quinton Hazel, and married her second husband Peter Savage in 1973. They moved back to Broadway in 2000 to be closer to their family.

Sharon said: "For her birthday we had arranged to have a party for family and friends in the Lifford Hall, but sadly this had to be cancelled due to Covid 19.

"In an effort to do something to make her day special, we put a notice on facebook to try to get 100 cards for her birthday.

"On the day she had 81, with more to come, so she may get to 100 still. Through the facebook post, local lady Sarah Knight, offered to make her a cake, which was delicious, and Jana, from Spotless Rose Floristry in Mickleton delivered her a beautiful posy of flowers.

"We also put a notice through her neighbours' doors asking them to come out into the close at 3pm, where we took her outside and everybody sang Happy Birthday to her.

"She had a very special day, but the highlight was of course her Birthday Card from the Queen, which really made her day.

"She was very disappointed to think she had kept going so long and wasn't going to get one!"