Retired headteacher Adelaide Hill partied with dozens of her old pupils to mark her 100th birthday.

Mrs Hill, from High Street, Shoreham, was thrilled to see students, many of them now in their 70s, from her time as head of West Hove First School.

Originally from Suffolk, Mrs Hill was in charge of the school for 30 years from 1934 and her pupils have never forgotten her.

She said: "It was very refreshing and lovely to see all of them at my birthday. Some of them still come to take me out for lunch."

Her friend, Vivienne Watts, added: "The pupils said she was very strict at school but they all loved her. She made them feel secure."

Mrs Hill celebrated her birthday by doing what she does best - chatting.

Mrs Watts said: "She just loves to chat. Chatting and going out are her hobbies. She used to run a bridge club for her friends in her flat but she's the only one of the clan left now."

Mrs Hill, who has no children of her own, puts her longevity down to keeping active, eating well and living in her own home.

Her late husband, Alexander, was a tailor in London's Saville Row before opening his own business in Hove.