UK's oldest person Gladys Hooper dies aged 113 in Isle of Wight

'Music gave her a very happy life, she met a lot of people through music'

Gladys Hooper in her nursing home (PA)

The UK's oldest person has died at the age of 113.

Gladys Hooper died in Highfield Nursing Home in Ryde, Isle of Wight, on Saturday.

The former concert pianist had her birthday in January and had celebrated it with a cup of tea and cake. The same month, she had said “I don't feel very different to when I was 75.”

Born Gladys Nash on January 18, 1903, she was brought up in Rottingdean, Brighton, East Sussex, and went on to study at college.

Later, 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.

In addition to playing the piano, she started one of the UK's first hire car companies and later ran Kingscliff House School, which went on to become Brighton College.

Gladys aged four (PA)

Mrs Hooper was widowed in 1988 when her husband, Leslie, who was a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps in both World Wars, died.

At 112, she had a hip replacement following a fall.

Gladys Hooper and her husband, Leslie, on their wedding day in 1922 (PA)

Following the operation, she moved into the Highfield Nursing Home in Ryde from a flat connected to the home of her son, Derek Hermiston, 85, where she had lived for 12 years.

Mr Hermiston, a retired pilot, said: “I am very proud of her, I have known her for quite a long time and I have seen her life when she was young, when she was a very agile person and always the centre of parties.

“She was a great pianist, I remember going to the Dorchester Hotel in London a few times where she was playing.

“Music gave her a very happy life, she met a lot of people through music". He added that he believed music sustained through her in her later years.