Britain's oldest virgin hits 107 years

Photo / APN

Britain's oldest virgin has celebrated her 107th birthday - and put her longevity down to her abstinence.

Proud Clara Meadmore, who once lived in New Zealand, has never had sex because she was "too busy" for intimate relationships which seemed like "a lot of hassle".

Her only surviving family are two nieces in New Zealand.

Clara knew she would remain single from the age of 12 and abstained as a young woman to concentrate on earning a living, she told British newspaper the Daily Mail.

The retired secretary said sex meant marriage during her youth in the 1920s and 1930s - and she wasn't interested in settling down.

She marked her 107th birthday with a small party with friends at her nursing home in Cornwall. Clara received a card from the Queen and celebrated with a drop of wine.

She said: "People have asked whether I am a homosexual and the answer is no. I have just never been interested in or fancied having sex.

"I've always had lots of platonic friendships with men but never felt the need to go further than that or marry."