THE love of a good man is the secret of a happy, long life, according to a Blackburn woman who celebrated her 100th birthday last weekend.

Mary Carr, who still lives independently in her Gibraltar Street home, said her happy marriage to James, who died 26 years ago, was the secret to enjoying life for more than a century.

The grandmother-of-19, who still enjoys gardening and politics, was presented with a 100th birthday card from Blackburn with Darwen Mayor Councillor Mike Barrett, on Saturday. She also threw a party with a guest for each year of her life at Blackburn Rugby Club and was driven there in a limousine.

Her eldest surviving daughter, Winifred Craig, 58, said: "My mother says the secret of making it to 100 is having a good husband. She and my father were very much in love."