Card-ace Joan Sales showed she still has plenty of tricks up her sleeves when she celebrated her 99th birthday with a surprise party at Carpenders Park Bridge Club.

And the evening was all the more memorable because Joan, along with playing partner Gerald Williams, swept all before them to take the top honours.

Joan plays bridge three times a week but before taking up cards she was a keen golfer and was ladies captain for several years at Grims Dyke.

She proves her dexterity by knitting and just recently finished a matinee coat for her newest great grandchild. The pattern she uses is so old it is held together by very browning sticky tape.

Joan, who lives in Hatch End, also knits squares to make into blankets to be sent to developing countries.

She is a regular church-goer and some years ago she set up a club for mothers to give them support. Friends say she was driving until a few years ago and was most annoyed when she was told she had to stop.

She has a son who helps run a day centre for th elderly and a daughter who is a retired pharmacist.

Her late husband was a war veteran who, following hostilities, held a senior post in the Bank of England.

Friends at the bridge club said Joan "has a great sense of humour and her attitude to life is, give it a go and don't worry about change - as one door closes another will open".

Carpenders Park Bridge Club meets every Monday at 7 pm (except the first Monday of each month) at the Carpenders Park Community Hall. The club has a membership of 50 and has been running 20 years.