A care home threw a birthday bash for its oldest resident as she celebrated reaching the grand old age of 104.

Ellen Bramson enjoyed a glass of wine and a slice of cake as she marked the milestone with family and staff at Lennox House care home in Durham Road, Holloway.

Her niece Jean Callagher said the lifelong Islington resident’s longevity could be down to the fact she and her husband never had to deal with the stresses of having children.

But she said it certainly had nothing to do with taking it easy over the years – for Mrs Bramson was still working hard well into her 70s, as a cleaner at a bank in Holloway Road.

She also led a fiercely independent life right up until the age of 99, despite living on the 15th floor of a block on the Harvist Estate, off Hornsey Road, Holloway.

Mrs Callagher, 74, said: “The party was very good, the home laid it on really well. I don’t know what her secret is, but she did look after herself and she never had any children and I think that helped her a lot. She and her husband never had a lot of worries.

“She was a very agile and active person right up to the age of 99, she used to live on the 15th floor of the Harvist Estate and she still went out every day.”