A man is preparing to celebrate his 90th birthday with his friends and family in their annual street party celebrating the Queen’s birthday as well.

Bernard Benham, of Cross Road, in Bushey, was born on June 21, 1926, in Harrow Weald and will celebrate his 90th birthday the same year as our current Monarch.

Mr Benham joined the Navy in his 20s and moved up the ranks until he was a signalman on the HMS Redmill.

Mr Benham said: “Each year the street have a party and this year it is going to be an extra special event.

“I am turning 90 and my neighbour is turning 80 on June 11.

“The garden party was very busy but there were a lot of people from different nationalities and that was very interesting.”

The 89-year-old still attends naval reunions with past comrades from that ship and once he met with the captain of the U boat that torpedoed his ship

The ship managed to limp into a port despite a large hole in its hull.

When he left the Navy, Mr Benham joined the London Underground as a porter then a guard on the Bakerloo Line and eventually became a driver.

He stayed at this job for 44 years before he retired at 65.

On Thursday May 19, Mr Benham was invited to attend the garden party for the Queen after one of his daughters asked if he could go.

His son, Stephen Benham, 60, followed his father’s footsteps and spent 40 years working on the tube lines.

He said: “My dad is quite a royalist. He was very excited when he got the invitation.

“He was dressed up in his naval uniform with his badges.

“His neighbours all decorated his house with the Union Jack on the day before he went down to the garden party.

“They also rented out a black Jaguar to take him and my sister down.”

Every year the residents of Cross Road have a street party where they cordon off the road with a BBQ and other activities.