A 78-year-old care home nurse who has worked in the sector for more than half a century has retired.

Abel Babadia, of Gravesend, who worked at Bupa Wilmington Manor Care Home, Common Lane, Dartford, for 11 years, first qualified in Nigeria in 1965, and has since practised in America, Jamaica, Nigeria along with the UK.

Home manager, John Hudson-Beddows, said: “Abel is one of a kind. Nursing and caring professions often get a bad rap in the media, and Abel’s story just goes to show that the job really can bring amazing rewards.

"I don’t think anyone would stay working until they were nearly eighty if they didn’t love it.

"We are really going to miss his smiley face and exquisite bedside manner around the home, but we are also very happy for him.”