SPECIAL celebrations with family and friends were held in?Okehampton for Constance Allen's 100th birthday.

Constance Maud Allen was born in India on September 18, 1913, but came to England in 1932 for the first time after the death of her mother.

She started her nursing training in a hospital near Bournemouth and later joined the Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service on the outbreak of war and served in Cyprus and Crete and was mentioned in despatches for helping to evacuate injured troops.

After the war Constance worked in London as a health visitor until her retirement when she moved to Andover where she supported the British Heart Foundation for many years.

Constance came to live in a retirement home in Okehampton run by Lynbridge Care in 2011 to be near her family.

She was treated to a weekend lunch party with family and friends, including Phillipa from Weston-Super-Mare who has been a friend for 60 years, and a tea party on her birthday.