A woman who celebrated her 103rd birthday jokingly says she is now aiming to reach 200!

Violet Diprose raised her great-granddaughter Kyra Cross from the age of five after her mother suffered post-natal depression.

They still live together in the same house in Rectory Road.

Mrs Diprose grew up in Bapchild and has lived in Sittingbourne for most of her life, except for when she worked as a maid at a home in Guildford, Surrey.

Miss Cross, 38, praised her great-gran’s bravery for standing up in court to ask for a divorce from her abusive first husband in the days when it was difficult to leave a marriage.

She later wed the love of her life Ernest Diprose, who worked on the door at the cinema in Sittingbourne.

It was there that she met legendary screen actor Sir John Mills, who was privately viewing early footage from of one of his films, The Long Memory, which was partly shot in Kent.

Mrs Diprose, who has four great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren, celebrated her birthday on September 15 with lunch at the Jenny Wren pub and a trip to the beach at Herne Bay.

Miss Cross paid tribute to carer Denise Rees, of Faversham-based Avante Community Support and staff at Crossroads Care for providing help at their home.

When asked how her dear relative enjoyed such a long life, Miss Cross, who works at Wickes in Cryalls Lane, said: “She just puts it down to working hard and being a bit stubborn.

“She says she feels at least 70 and is trying to make 200. You can still talk to her, although she is a bit deaf. She has a wicked sense of humour and with carer Denise, they can be very mischievous. They are always winding me up.

“I’m not very good domestically and they are always ribbing me when I say I’m going to do the washing. She is the best person in the world. I don’t think I would be the person I am today without her.”