An Italian woman says her "positive attitude to life" has been key as she celebrates her 110th birthday.

Matilde Coulter reached the incredible age on March 30 and celebrated the milestone with friends and family at her home at Villa Scalabrini in Shenley.

The residential home, on the edge of the village, hosted a wonderful party fitting for a woman who was born in the same year as when British explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton discovered the south magnetic pole.

Mrs Coulter was born in 1909, southern Italy.

When she was just 10-years-old, her father died, leaving behind his four children and wife. Soon after, Matilde moved to Rome where she lived with an aunt at a French covenant school.

A few years later, Matilde married Cliff Coulter, a British man who worked at Fox Films in the Italian capital. She began working in the accounts department at the company, before the pair moved to England when the Second World War broke out.

They spent the duration of the war in Northamptonshire before returning to Italy.

Sadly, in 1959, Mr Coulter died, and Matilde stayed in Italy living with her extended family - but she would often make trips back to England, and Hatfield where she would stay with her son, John, and his family.

At the age of 103, Matilde moved in with her son and his wife, Norma, in Hatfield, but she recently made the move to Shenley.

Her secret to reaching such a majestic age is always having a positive attitude, keep your mind busy and never give up. Well into her 90s Matilde was still catching the bus around Rome, creating beautiful embroidered items for her family and cooking Italian meals for her family.