Britain's oldest man may be honoured with a national memorial service when he dies.

Henry Allingham, 110, lives in St Dunstan's care home for ex-servicemen and women at Ovingdean, near Brighton.

He is one of only a handful of surviving veterans from the First World War and is the last survivor of the biggest naval battle of the Great War, the Battle of Jutland in 1916.

The Government has announced that the death of the final First World War veteran will be honoured with a national memorial service at Westminster Abbey.

The service, which has the support of the Queen, will be held to pay tribute to the sacrifice of a generation lost during the conflict.

Mr Allingham, a great-great grandfather, was born in London and began his military career as an air mechanic second class in 1915.

He was posted to the Royal Naval Air Service station at Great Yarmouth, where he met his wife Dorothy.

The couple were married for 53 years before she died in 1970.

In the past, Mr Allingham put the secret of his long life down to "cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women".

He lived in Eastbourne for 40 years before moving to St Dunstan's recently.