MAURICE Upton, who is 100 on Tuesday, has been told his home of 55 years will be demolished and he has to find somewhere else to live.

The council has decided to demolish 38 council houses in Bellbrooke Avenue, Darfield, and sell the land for affordable housing.

Maurice's wife Clarice, 84, is devastated. She said: "It's killing me this. I can't sleep. What are they doing this to us for? I just cry and cry. I can't help it. Maurice can't move house. He knows it here. It's so depressing and distressing.

"We really have had a good life here. We couldn't wish for a better place to live. Our life was going to end here together and now they've gone and mucked it all up."

The homes are prefabricated of a concrete construction and the council has said they have long exceeded their intended life span and would be uneconomical to bring up to standard.

But Maurice and Clarice are more than happy with the condition of their home. Maurice has lived in the house since it was built. Clarice said she fell in love with the view from the back of his home as well as with him. The rear upstairs windows look out over fields towards Grimethorpe. Maurice will celebrate his 100th birthday on Tuesday with a party at the Highgate day centre.