REACHING the ripe old age of 100 is certainly an event worth celebrating.

But Hampshire's latest centenarian Elsie Kirton really doesn't know what all the fuss is about.

And the modest great-grandmother has even asked her friends and family not to bother with presents but to mark her big day with donations to her church's charity, The Leprosy Mission.

For Elsie, today will be much like any other birthday despite the fact she is due a telegram from the Queen.

Elsie, from West End, said: "It's no different from any other birthday. I just take each one as it comes.

"It has only been the last couple of weeks that I realised it was unusual."

Yorkshire-born Elsie, who moved to West End when she was 80 to be nearer her family, claims there is no great secret behind her long life.

Elsie, of St James Road, who was married to husband Eric for almost 60 years, said: "I have taken life as it comes. I have had my ups and downs with my health but I have always come through alright."

Of all the things Elsie has seen over the past century, one image has stayed with her since her time up north.

"I saw a Zeppelin shot down and watched all the flak going up. It was such a spectacle that I have never forgotten it", she said.

Despite her move down South, keen football fan Elsie hasn't transferred her affections from her home team, Middlesborough, and keeps a close eye on matches.

Her love of football came about as a result of looking after her brothers and father following her mother's death when Elsie was just 14 years old.

Son Bob says it wasn't always a role she enjoyed.

He said: "Her two brothers played football and she used to wash the team's kit.

"On one occasion she got fed up so she sewed the legs of the shorts up."