A CHINESE fortune-teller once predicted that Phyllis Knight would live to be 104.

But she has gone one better - by celebrating her 105th birthday.

Phyllis, of Linthwaite, who is believed to be the Huddersfield area's oldest resident, received a card from the Queen to mark the occasion on Sunday.

It read: "What a splendid achievement!"

She went out for lunch with her two daughters, Margaret Threadingham and Gwynneth Knight, to mark the milestone.

Margaret, 68, said her mother was still going strong.

She said: "We went to see a fortune-teller in Hong Kong when she was in her 70s and he told her she would live to be 104."

Gwynneth, 67, said: "We thought it was a lot of rubbish at the time. In hindsight we should have put some money on it!"

Phyllis, a former mill worker, has spent most of her life in Linthwaite.

She was a bobbin winder and a warper at Mallinsons and Shires mill before her marriage to Tom Knight in 1932.

They met while taking part in an amateur dramatic group's production.

Margaret said: "He was the love interest in the play. He had to climb through a window, but he caught his foot on the way through and ended up pushing her off the stage."

Gwynneth added: "You could say she fell for him in a big way!"

Phyllis is known in the Colne Valley for being a gifted singer and was a member of the choir at Christ Church, Linthwaite, for 54 years. She was also in Golcar Ladies' Choir, the Colne Valley Vocal Union and Linthwaite Operatic Society.

She performed in many Gilbert and Sullivan operettas with her husband and helped to run a senior citizens club well into her 80s.

She has travelled extensively in Europe and the Far East.

As well as her two daughters, she has a son, Geoffrey, 73, who lives in Harrogate.

She has four grandchildren and five great- grandchildren.

Her daughters said Mrs Knight had a royal incentive to live to a ripe old age.

Margaret said: "She was determined to outlive the Queen Mother. She asked what the Queen Mother drank so she could drink the same."

Gwynneth said: "She has enjoyed life and she laughs a lot. She's very popular."