England's oldest man Bob Weighton has put his longevity down to "avoiding dying" and being one of "life's survivors".

The former teacher and engineer celebrates his 111th birthday today with friends at his retirement flat in Alton, Hampshire.

Mr Weighton has a workshop in his flat in which he makes and sells windmills and ornaments from recycled wood and still cooks and shops for himself using his walking aid with a customised new number plate - Bob 111.

Asked for the secret of his longevity, he joked: "By avoiding dying - there's no reason otherwise.

"I have had the usual scares, flu, influenza, malaria, two or three operations; I ought to be dead but I am a survivor, if you like."


Image: Mr Weighton said the world had changed "enormously"

Mr Weighton has had two sons and a daughter, 10 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren, but said he does not "like the attention" surrounding his birthday.

He said he has requested not to get a birthday card from the Queen any more, adding: "I do not see why the state should pay for the Queen to send out all these things, it's not a personal thing.

"I thought that's enough, but I might consider another one next year if I live that long."

Born in Hull on 29 March, 1908, he said the world has changed "enormously" in his lifetime, but people have mostly stayed the same.

Image: The former engineer requested not to get a birthday card from the Queen

"Visually and in physical terms, it's changed enormously, in what human beings are - not at all," he said.

"In practical terms, one thing is the speed of travel. In 1933 I travelled to the Far East on a P&O boat to Hong Kong and it took six weeks, now you can fly there in about eight or nine hours."

Mr Weighton shares his birthday and age with the UK's other oldest man Alfred Smith, from the village of St Madoes in Perthshire.

Image: Bob Weighton teaching in 1934

Mr Smith was born in Invergowrie in 1908 and emigrated to Canada in 1927 along with four of his five brothers, but returned after five years and went on to drive lorries for one of his siblings.

During the Second World War, he was in the Home Guard, and married Isobel when he was 29. The couple went on to run a farm at Kinfauns where they raised two children, Irene and Allan.

Mrs Smith died aged 97 more than 15 years ago while his son Allan, with whom he worked on the farm for 40 years, died in 2016.

Asked for his secret to a long life, he said: "Porridge is helpful and having a job you enjoy.

"I like to think I've lived a decent life. I do ask myself - why me? Why have I lived so long when others haven't?"