Still in the driving seat at 105

Sheila Thomson makes the 15-mile round trip in her Peugeot 106 from her home in Broughty Ferry, near Dundee, to church in Invergowrie every Sunday.

Mrs Thomson has been driving for more than 70 years but has never sat a test because she first got behind the wheel before they were introduced.

The record for the oldest driver was previously thought to belong to 101-year-old Charlie Howarth.

Mrs Thomson has lived alone since the death of her husband 20 years ago and is looked after by three neighbours. She celebrated her 105th birthday on 19 April with them and a cousin from Edinburgh.

"You just have to watch what you are doing"
Sheila Thomson

She was born in 1902, the same year that Edward VII came to the throne after the death of his mother Queen Victoria. The year also saw the second Boer War end.

Mrs Thomson said: "I don't take the car into heavy traffic but I still take it on the trip to church.

"I don't get nervous, I just take it as I find it. I take the quieter streets. You just have to watch what you are doing."

As well as making the weekly journey from her home to Invergowrie Parish Church, which she has attended for more than 60 years, she also drives to the local shops.

Driving tests did not exist when she first got behind the wheel back in the early 1930s. "It was too long ago for all that," she said.

It had been believed that Mr Howarth, from West Yorkshire, was Britain's oldest driver.

His first car was a Ford Model T, and he got his first ticket for speeding at the age of 99 when caught by a speed camera in his Rover automatic.