A CARE home centenarian has demonstrated her mind is still as sharp as her pencil by winning a writing competition.

Irene Schofield, who lives at the Belong Crewe care village, took top prize in the 'Grow Old Disgracefully' competition with a vivid childhood memory of being saved by a bathtub when she was a tot.

Irene impressed the panel of judges with her true recollection, 'Saved by a bathtub' story.

Set on a warm summer's day, the tale recalls a young Irene sneaking out of an afternoon nap to finish cleaning bedroom windows her mother had begun washing before leaving to attend to a visitor.

When she lost her balance on the windowsill, she toppled 40 feet but landed safely in a tin bath dedicated to her brothers' work clothes.

Irene recalled: "I never did get thanked for cleaning those windows! I've always been better at telling stories than writing them. When working as a shop assistant years ago, every time I'd dress and wash the windows, I'd think about what happened to me.

"I thought other people would enjoy reading about my mischief, and so I decided to share it with the world. It's amazing that I won, I'm still in shock – I've never been famous before."

The competition was set up by The Grow Old Disgracefully Charitable Trust and invited the over-90s to pen short stories to the theme of childhood anecdotes, with a judging panel made up of BAFTA-winner Virginia McKenna, children's author Lauren St John, BBC broadcaster Nicholas Owen, crime writer Peter James and Scottish literary agent Judy Moir.

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Kathryn Farmer, general manager at Belong Crewe, said: "We're ever so proud of Irene's win. It just goes to show that a good story can stand the test of time. Her win has inspired our other residents to regale us with a number of personal tales, many of which involve them growing old a little disgracefully!"