MOST of us would be happy to put our feet up and take it easy long before we get anywhere near the age of 100 – but not great-great-grandma Lily Lamb.

For the Chadderton woman, who will become a centenarian on Tuesday, still works out twice a week at Oldham Sports Centre and has no intention of slowing up.

Lily said: "I go every Tuesday and Friday and do chair exercises. It gets your feet, arms, and neck moving and helps you keep fit. A lot of people don’t realise I’m 100 and some think I am only about 70."

Although many people of Lily’s age are in a nursing home, this independent pensioner still manages in her own house with a little help from neighbours.

Twice widowed, Oldham-born Lily’s first husband was John Orton in 1933. He died in the 1960s and in 1976 she married Samuel Lamb, who was to die in 1986.

Lily said: "I have always tried to keep fit and my first husband was a cyclist and we used to ride tandem. I have always enjoyed ballroom and sequence dancing and taught others how to dance for a while. I joined the Billington Dance group when I was 15."

Lily attended the former St Andrew’s School, in Chadderton, and worked as a weaver. She has three children, the eldest of whom is 75, numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren and recently became a great-great grandma for the first time.

But if you think it’s all about exercise with Lily (who is pictured doing weights with a tin of rice pudding), you’d be wrong. For she confesses to enjoying the occasional brandy or babycham, eating meat and lashings of rice pudding.

Although it is her birthday on Tuesday, it is Saturday that will see a major party in her honour at the Albion Pub, Royton, when family members fly in from around the globe. Some will be coming from as far away as Spain and New Zealand – and as near as Royton.

Steve Eyre, of Oldham Community Leisure, said Lily is an inspiration to all the elderly sports’s centre users.

He added: "She is in extremely good health for her age and really looks forward to her two work out sessions each week. Although she has osteo rheumatoid arthritis and is blind in one eye she shows age is no obstacle to exercise. In fact, this will be the second time one of our customers has reached the age of 100. Lily is a shining example of how a moderate amount of exercise can lead to a more healthy lifestyle. Everyone at the centre thinks Lily is marvellous and wishes her all the best for the future".