A LIFELONG Rovers fan received a telegram from the Queen at a buffet for her 100th birthday.

At the age of 99 Olive Reid was still a regular tea dancer at the functions held at Blackburn Rovers and she was also season ticket holder at the club for many years.

She celebrated her birthday in style among her friends at Hollymount Nursing and Residential Home, Blackburn, where she has lived since 1992.

Her closest relative, her niece Jean Brown, made the journey from her home in Paignton, Devon, to help her celebrate and the Mayor of Blackburn, Coun Maureen Bateson, was also invited.

Olive was the youngest of nine children and lived in the Brownhill area of Blackburn with her husband, Tom.

She enjoyed bowling and was a prominent member of the Roe Lee Ladies' Bowling Club.

Nurse manager at the home Eileen Hartley said: "Olive always has a very bright sense of humour and is always ready for a joke.

"Many of the residents tell us about what they used to do and how they used to work as weavers. But Olive always jokes that she was a lady and didn't have to go out to work."

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