WELLINGTON pearly queen Madge Covey celebrated her 101st birthday in some style with two ‘big bashes’ during the day.

First, Madge attended a three-course banquet in her honour at The Castle Hotel, in Taunton, on Friday (December 29), with nearly 30 relatives and friends.

This was followed later in the day with a buffet at Wellington Conservative Club, of which Madge is a regular member.

Madge, who was awarded a BEM in 2020 for her services to the community of Wellington, said afterwards: “It was a lovely day - and exhausting.

“But I rested up in between.”

Madge moved from Southampton to Wellington in 1992 and has been a regular fund-raiser for the town’s carnival, even in her centenary year in 2022.

She has also become the Royal British Legion’s oldest poppy seller, having started selling poppies at the age of 11 years.