A MAN who has celebrated 100 Christmases claims to have never seen a flake of snow fall on December 25.

A white Christmas, the theme of thousands of festive cards, isn't a scene that Fred Gee, who turns 100 on Christmas Eve, can recall.

And the former bus driver from Hertfordshire also said that although today's children who are born around the festive season often complain their birthday's are forgotten, he never had reason to complain about his birthday and Christmas presents.

Fred spent most of his life in London and Peterborough before moving to Rishton to be closer to his daughter Reverend Gillian Reed, of St Thomas with St Jude's Church, Butts Mount, Great Harwood.

He has outlived his sons Malcolm, Jim and Brian.

Fred, whose wife Phyllis died in 1989, said: "Not in 100 years has it snowed on Christmas Day or on my birthday. But I'm still lucky because I don't think anyone else in my family has lived to see their 100th birthday.

"I spent a good many years driving buses in London before I moved here.

"When I was a boy my dad William Fredrick worked on the trains and we moved to North Peterborough.

"I would have one pile of presents for my birthday and another for Christmas.

"I was always grateful for what I was given."

Fred is being taken to the Dunkenhalgh Hotel, Clayton-le-Moors, by his family for Christmas dinner.

A joint Christmas and birthday party with members of Broadfield Care Services, who look after Fred, was held in Poplar Working Men's Club, Wellington Street, Accrington, on December 8 and Fred will be having a birthday party with his family on Christmas Eve.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: "It is quite surprising that Mr Gee has never seen any snow fall on Christmas Day. The definition of a white Christmas is one flake falling on the day itself.

"Our records show that parts of Lancashire had snow in 2004, 2001, 2000 and 1999. In 1981 parts of Lancashire, particularly over by the Pennines, had 20cms on the ground.

"But the nature of weather is very hit and miss so it is possible that Mr Gee has managed to avoid snow on Christmas Days.

"Lancashire is more likely to have snow than London because it gets a showery air stream from the Irish sea, which blows in with a north westerly wind, and of course it is warmer down in the south."