Membership of the '100 club' at its highest

The number of centenarians has hit an all-time high of 9,300.

The three-figure mark - once regarded as an extraordinary achievement reached by a tiny handful - is increasingly commonplace, according to official figures.

In 1911 England and Wales had about 100 centenarians. By the Sixties the total had reached 1,000.

But, according to the Office of National Statistics, the tally will pass 10,000 by 2010. Women outnumber men by seven to one, although the gap is narrowing as men's life expectancy catches up.

Membership of the "100 club" has accelerated since 2001 because newcomers were too young to fight in the First World War and less likely to die in 1919's flu pandemic. Also nutrition, medical treatment and hygiene have improved.