A RUM a day is keeping the doctor away for a Canvey grandfather who celebrated his 104th birthday with his favourite tipple.

A steady stream of friends called on Monday to raise a glass to Bill Monk.

Bottles of beer and rum piled up in the former park keeper’s lounge as more and more guests arrived, a clear sign of his high standing on the island.

Asked the secret to his long life and health, Mr Monk said: “I always have a drink before bed – I like a tot of rum.”

Neighbour Yvonne Hawkins, 76, who makes Mr Monk’s dinner each evening, said: “The doctor came on Bill’s birthday a couple of years ago and there were drinks everywhere. I asked if it was bad for Bill, and the doctor said: ‘It hasn’t so far, you carry on as you are.’”

Mr Monk remembered when Canvey was fields, with a few bungalows and no roads, and visitors had to take a boat across the creek from Benfleet.

The grandfather-of-two grew up in Edmonton, north London, but visited the island for holidays as a boy.

He said: “The first time I came to Canvey I was ten.

“It was just open fields, no houses, and a few bungalows. That was all.”

Mr Monk, who remembers airships over Enfield during the First World War and who served with the South Staffordshire Regiment in Germany in the Second World War, moved to join his son, Colin, on Canvey after retirement.

He said: “It cost us £380 for a three-bedroom house – I pay more than that in insurance now!

“The island was building up, but it wasn’t built-up like it is now.”

Mr Monk, who poured the first bottle of pasteurised milk when working at the Palmers Green dairy, in London, and wife, Lily, were married for 78 years before she died a couple of years ago.

A former trade union branch secretary, Mr Monk is still very interested in politics.

Rebecca Harris, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Castle Point, who came to wish Mr Monk a happy birthday, said: “I called to find the Daily Politics on TV and Mr Monk sitting with his eyes closed.

“I nudged him gently and said: ‘Bill, I think you’ve fallen asleep with the television on.’

“Opening his eyes, he said: ‘I wasn’t asleep. Nick Clegg was on and I can’t stand him.’”

Joyce Daynes, 85, of Labworth Road, Canvey, who has known Mr Monk for about 12 years, said: “He is a lovely man. He’s never miserable.

“He has always got a smile and the neighbours are always in and out looking after him.’’