Britain's oldest person Gladys Hooper dies aged 113

Britain's oldest person Gladys Hooper has died at the age of 113 - the same day and age as her American counterpart.

The former concert pianist died at her nursing home in Ryde on the Isle of Wight, her son Derek Hermiston said.

"She passed away, she just faded - 113 and a half is a good old age," Mr Hermiston, 85, said.

"We saw her this morning, she seemed reasonably well, she was sleeping. We had left her for just about an hour when they called us to tell us she had passed away."

Mrs Hooper broke a Guinness World Record last year when she became the oldest person to undergo a hip replacement operation which was carried out by consultant orthopaedic surgeon Jason Millington at St Mary's Hospital in Newport.

After the operation, Mrs Hooper moved into the Highfield Nursing Home in Ryde from a flat connected to her son Derek's home, where she had lived for 12 years.

Mrs Hooper was widowed in 1988 when her husband Leslie, who was a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps in the two world wars, died.

She had another great link to aviation, as she was good college friends with Amy Johnson, who later became a world famous aviatrix.

Born Gladys Nash on January 18 1903, she was brought up in Rottingdean, Brighton, East Sussex.

She became a concert pianist in London and played with famous band leaders of the time such as Jack Payne, Debroy Somers and Maurice Winnick.

Mrs Hooper also started what is thought to be the first car hire company in London, and later ran Kingscliff House School, which is now Brighton College.