A POLISH woman who sought refuge from the Nazis in Britain has celebrated her 100th birthday in Swindon.

Maria Kolecki, of Goddard Avenue, in Old Town, puts her youthful looks and longevity down to healthy living.

Mrs Kolecki, who settled in Swindon 53 years ago, said: "I don't drink, and I don't smoke. I was brought up in the country where we had healthy food."

The centenarian, born in 1903, in Aleksiejowka, south Poland, first fled her homeland in 1939 after her first husband was captured by the German police.

She sold her jewellery to pay for train tickets and travelled through Lithuania, Estonia, Sweden and France before coming to England.

Mrs Kolecki, whose third husband died last year, said: "There was very heavy bombing so all women and children were taken to Blackpool.

"Then I started to work in the blood unit at the Royal Infirmary Hospital, in Edinburgh, until the end of the war."

Mrs Kolecki's home is filled with flowers and birthday cards from friends and family. And taking pride of place among them all is a telegram from the Queen.

"I am very happy to have got this," she said.

"I like the Royal Family. I was very sad when the Queen Mother died."