A retired Keighley nurse celebrated her 91st birthday by returning for the first time in 70 years to the seaside hotel where she cared for war casualties.

Nancy Wilkinson worked as a fledgling nurse at the Midland Hotel in Morecambe during the Second World War, when the building served as a military hospital.

She nursed wounded servicemen returning from battle.

It was during her time there that she had her 21st birthday.

“Back then it was not a time for celebration,” said Mrs Wilkinson.

“We just carried on with our work looking after the men who were often badly injured. But I did receive a few cards and gifts from colleagues and some of the officers I was caring for.”

She said it was extremely nostalgic to return to the hotel, where she was treated to a tour of the newly-refurbished building.

During the war, she was transferred between several locations throughout the UK to nurse army, navy and air force personnel.

Following her spell in Morecambe, she was moved to a hospital station specifically set up to care for men returning from the D-Day offensive.

When the war ended, Mrs Wilkinson was among the first batch of nurses trained under the newly-formed NHS, and in the 1960s she worked as ward sister at the former Morton Banks Isolation Hospital in Riddlesden.