LIFE is grand for Frances Butler -- and at 103, it could not be anything else.

She has just notched up another year of her impressive life with a big family bash at the Atherton care home where she now lives.

The 103-year-old was joined by friends and relatives at Manor Fold and enjoyed opening presents of wine, chocolates and sweet-scented flowers.

Her secret to a long life is hard work and always wearing a smile. And it was beams all round at the party -- her second in two days, following a get together at Rivington Barn the previous night.

Frances, who married her late husband, James, in 1919, attended the "Bluebell School" on Bolton Road in Atherton, and later worked in the mining industry, including a stint at the Pretoria Pit.

During the First World War, she worked in munitions and in peacetime, became a cleaner and an assembly worker.

She recently moved to the care home because her Mealhouse Court home was burgled just before Christmas.

Her daughters, Elsie Kelly, 81, and Jean Bullough, 66, visit her every day.

Jean said: "My mother seems very happy at the moment. You wouldn't know her age, she looks much younger.

"She feels a lot safer at the home and she's much more active too. The amazing thing is that she can remember everything she has ever done. It's amazing really."