FAMILY and friends were on hand to help Bessie Moore cut the cake and mark her 103rd birthday in style.There was a party atmosphere at The Lodge nursing home, Old London Road, Copdock, Ipswich, as Mrs Moore celebrated her special occasion.

FAMILY and friends were on hand to help Bessie Moore cut the cake and mark her 103rd birthday in style.

There was a party atmosphere at The Lodge nursing home, Old London Road, Copdock, Ipswich, as Mrs Moore celebrated her special occasion.

She received a number of flowers and a telegram from Prime Minister Gordon Brown and was joined by her niece, Wendy Atkinson, who was accompanied by her husband Jim.

Mrs Moore, who still talks passionately about her love of gardening, the countryside and music, was born in Bramford Road, Ipswich, and used to work at the Phillips and Piper factory in the town.

She married her husband, Stanley, at St Helen's Church, Ipswich, in 1935, and the couple had one daughter, Gene, who passed away from leukaemia in 1955 at the age of 19.

The pair previously lived in Norwich and Gloucester and until 2001 Mrs Moore was living in a bungalow in Walton, near Felixstowe.

Mrs Atkinson, who lives in Ipswich, said: “Auntie Bessie has really enjoyed her day.

“We come and visit her every week and sometimes she doesn't always register who I am but she seems a lot brighter today - she knows it's her birthday.

“She can't believe she's 103. She's very deaf and is registered partially blind but you can have a conversation with her.”