A former Bentalls employee who feared she may miss the London Olympics two years ago, has celebrated her 100th birthday.

Son Martin Bagge, 66, recalled an occasion when his mother Enid, who was in her 90s at the time, told him she would probably not make it to see the great sporting event she had once witnessed in 1948.

Mr Bagge said: “I remember when it was announced that the Olympics would be coming she was really positive about it because she could remember the last one. But she said ‘I might not be around’.

“But the Olympics were two years ago and she was around.

“She got in my car and we saw the cycle racing from Hampton Court and Bradley Wiggins. She couldn’t believe she was seeing something like that so close to home.”

Mrs Bagge who moved into the Linwood Residential Home, in Mercer Close, Thames Ditton, at the beginning of the year, celebrated her birthday on Friday, April 2 with a party attended by close friends and family.

Recalling what all the partygoers got up to, Mr Bagge said: “Nothing illegal I can assure you. We put on a nice little spread and we had balloons and a cake. She gave a speech and thanked everybody which was nice. She was very pleased.

“She had a drop of champagne. We raised the glass and sang happy birthday. My mum always liked a drink. She looked nice – she always looks nice. ”

Mrs Bagge had attended a fashion college and worked at Harrods before the Second World War and in shipping intelligence during the war.

She spent the latter part of her working life, 25 years, in the knitting department followed by the perfume department in Bentalls.

The family presented her with some old albums detailing her life from her early moments as a baby to her coach trips, cruises and wedding ceremony just before the Second World War.