CENTENARIAN Elsie Daines had plenty to cheer about as she celebrated her milestone birthday.

Around 30 special guests, including television personality Gloria Hunniford and Trevor Huxley, the grandson of Brave New Word author Aldous Huxley, joined Elsie at her Wallisdown home on Saturday.

Elsie’s 100th birthday party, organised by her son David, was hailed a resounding success.

“Everybody enjoyed themselves,” said Elsie. “My son is very kind, he worked very hard on this party.

“I’ve got the best son in the world.”

Elsie, of Heathfield Avenue, welcomed her son after he jetted across the Atlantic from his New York home.

David, who counts Gloria Hunniford and Trevor Huxley as family friends, said: “Trevor and his wife came from New York, we had cousins flying in from Canada.

“It was quite a wonderful party.”

Elsie was born in Alton, Hampshire, before moving to London as a teenager. She started work at 14 and went onto become a court dressmaker, based at London’s Berkeley Square, making clothes for members of the Royal Family.

“We got an invitation to go to New York when I was 53,” she recalled. “My husband, Arthur, worked for the Marlborough Fine Arts Gallery, as did I for a while.

“We met all the artists, it was a wonderful time. We went out there to work in 1966 and ended up staying for 10 years.”

Elsie eventually came back to Dorset to look after her aunt.

On her longevity, Elsie told the Daily Echo: “I’m always laughing, you’ve got to just keep doing the things you like. I paint a lot, watercolours.

“My advice would be to just try to enjoy things all the time.