At 107 years old she’s one of the oldest people in the country, but Victoria Middlemiss still says she feels “like a teenager”.

No hanging around in the park drinking cider for this “teenager” though – Mrs Middlemiss believes it could be saying prayers every night and morning that has kept her going for so long.

She still likes to have a laugh with staff at Rogers House in Wigmore, where she’s lived for almost eight years.

Born on February 1 1910 in Sudbury, Suffolk, Mrs Middlemiss was a middle child of 13 siblings, and spent her childhood in Sudbury before moving to the countryside during the war.

“I married my husband when I was 25, we were too poor to marry any sooner!” she said. “Shortly after, I had our daughter, Doreen, my husband returned to the Army and I remained living in the countryside until the war was over, then we moved to London.”

Mrs Middlemiss, who has a grandchild and two great-grandchildren, has lived at the Abbeyfield Kent Society home in Wigmore since June 2009.

After several short stays during the summer holidays, she decided with her daughter that she would live there permanently, if she could have a room on the ground floor, painted green!

Lorraine Laker, care co-ordinator at Rogers House said: “Victoria has lived with us for almost eight years and we love having her here as she’s such a wonderful lady, we call her our Queen Victoria!”

“She doesn’t like a big fuss so her birthday celebration was low-key, we gave her a present and staff made a wonderful cake and card.

“When I asked Victoria this morning how she felt, she said ‘on a good day I feel like a teenager!’”

So what’s the secret to a long and healthy life?

Mrs Middlemiss thinks for a moment and then says, “Oh, I don’t know but I say my prayers every night before I go to bed and when I get up in the morning.”