A MUCH-loved great grandfather has celebrated his 100th birthday with a special tea party in Liskeard.

Reg Parcell is a long-term resident at Beech Lawn Nursing Home, and staff there pulled out all the stops to make sure his day was full of happiness, despite the fact that his family could only visit at a distance.

Daughter-in-law Lynda said: ‘The staff couldn’t have done more during these difficult times to ensure Reg Parcell had a great day.

‘They had beautifully decorated the dining room, gave him a tea party and gathered to sing Happy Birthday.

‘The care and kindness is clear to see on a daily basis, so our thanks go out to them, not just for yesterday but for every day.’

Reg was born and grew up on the family dairy farm in Hertfordshire, where he and his identical twin brother would get up to all sorts of mischief while helping out with the hard work of milking and delivery rounds.

A versatile sportsman, Reg was ambidextrous and could bat or bowl with either hand, to the confusion of cricketing opponents!

His work on the farm prevented him from accepting an apprenticeship at Leyton Orient football club as a young man. Reg was a serving police officer when the Second World War broke out and was one of the group of unmarried young officers detached to cities that had been badly damaged by bombing.

Among his duties as a young policeman was crowd control, and this often included football matches. Reg says it was no hardship to be paid to stand in front of the Arsenal stands and watch his own team, the Gunners, play.

It was in Portsmouth that Reg met his future wife, Evelyn: she ran over his foot on her bicycle while he was directing traffic!

Reg was commissioned into the RAF, where his extraordinary ability with numbers was soon picked up on.

He flew many sorties as a navigator, including in the famous Mosquito aircraft.

Reg and Evelyn were married in 1945 and they settled in Witley, Surrey, where Reg became the village police officer. The couple had three sons, Tony, Chris and Graham, and after a change of career into the insurance business, Reg worked all over the country.

He and Evelyn enjoyed many happy years of retirement in Frome, Somerset.

Reg remained fit and active well into his nineties, driving around the country to visit his family. Following a period of serious illness, he moved into Beech Lawn in Liskeard in 2011. He has six grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.