Britain's oldest person dies

Florence Reeves, who at the age of 111 was believed to be Britain’s oldest person, has just died, her MP David Amess, announced today.

By coincidence, the news of Mrs Reeves’s death came only a few hours after the announcement of the death of Dutchwoman Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, aged 115, who was recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the “oldest person”.

Mrs Reeves was born on February 17, 1894, and until last May lived alone in a bungalow in Leigh-on-Sea. Since then she had lived in a local nursing home, where she died.

She had been widowed for about 30 years. During the First World War she was a senior civil servant in the British War Office, working on morse code which was used for transmitting classified material.

Mr Amess, MP for Southend West, said: “She was very active until a few months ago. She had been a keen supporter of the Suffragettes, and was against the postal vote.

“She voted in every single election and voted for me in person at the last election, and regularly went to church. She enjoyed a tipple, too. Whenever I brought her a House of Commons ‘miniature’ it disappeared pretty quickly.”