A SALE centenarian celebrated her special day with family and a telegram from Her Majesty the Queen.

Sarah Ellen Ross was born 100 years ago on July 8 and remembers seeing bombers over Manchester while working in munitions during the Second World War.

The keen Manchester United fan marked her hundredth year with a party at Kitty Wheeldon Gardens Salvation Army Housing Association, as well as celebrating with family.

Sarah Ellen began her working career aged 15 with the Hugh Stevenson Box Works in Levenshulme.

During the war she was sent to Crossley Motors in Openshaw, where she worked in munitions manufacturing, and remembers leaving work of an evening to see the Luftwaffe bombing the city.

Widowed in 2010, she was married to husband, Norman, for 72 years.

Norman was a lifelong Manchester United fan –a passion he passed on to Ellen, who remains a keen red and fan of most sports.

She has one daughter, two grandchildren, great granddaughters and a great grandson.

She likes watching the Red Devils with family, as well as completing word search puzzles.

Sarah Ellen said she was delighted to receive her telegram from the Queen.

She put her longevity down to ‘hard work, looking after oneself, always looking forward, as well as lucky genes’ – her youngster sister, May, lived to 94.