A GRANDFATHER will toast his 100th birthday today – but not a drop of alcohol will pass his lips.

A cup of tea is the choice for Leonard Hurt who has never tasted strong drink in his long and varied life.

The grandfather-of-four will be celebrating the landmark birthday with a party at Moorlands Grange care home in Netherton, where he now lives.

Leonard’s son Douglas told the Examiner his dad has had a “long and gifted life”.

Leonard wasn’t a scholar and preferred to “play hooky” from school where he grew up in Nottingham.

Instead he was passionate about driving, whether it be cars, vans, buses or motorbikes.

He became a Huddersfield bus driver and mechanic.

Douglas said that when Leonard was younger he saved up and bought his first motorbike which he used to drive up and down the road with his friend, stopping to chat to local girls.

On one trip they met a girl called Margaret who asked Leonard for his name.

His friend told her it was ‘George’ and the name has stuck with Leonard ever since.

Margaret became Leonard’s wife in 1932 and throughout their long marriage she always called him George.

Their daughter Patricia was born in 1933 and son Douglas was born in 1936.

It was in 1940 that Leonard and his family moved to Yorkshire after being evacuated during the war.

They settled in Honley and Leonard was enlisted into the Royal Corps Signals and based at Hope Bank as a corporal and a heavy duty truck driving instructor. After being demobbed, Leonard become a bus driver for Yorkshire Traction.

He later became a motor mechanic at the Midlothian Garage in Holmfirth.

In 1960 Leonard and Margaret emigrated to San Francisco where they became American citizens.

Some 50 years on, Leonard was pleased to receive a certificate from The Social Security Administration of the United States of America, wishing him a happy 100th birthday. The couple had to move back to England after their daughter Patricia fell ill and they settled in Taylor Hill.

Leonard, a great-grandfather-of-five, worked as a mechanic at Burnlee Garage in Holmfirth until he retired.

Tragically, Patricia passed away from a brain tumour in 1980 which devastated the family.

In 2002 Leonard and Margaret celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary with a party at The Southgate Theatre in Honley.

Son Douglas said his mum and dad had an “exceptional relationship”.

Sadly Margaret died in 2004 but Leonard carried on living in the their house until 2007.

Following a couple of falls Leonard had a hip replacement and moved to Moorlands Grange care home where he now lives.