Blackpool pensioner Jacqueline Dodgson born on a leap year set to celebrate her 21st birthday

Jacqueline has always had 'two ages' because she was born during a Leap Year, which occurs every four years.

She was born in Derby on February 29, 1940, and as she grew up Jacqueline got used to celebrating her birthday on February 28, until her 'real' birthday came around again.

Jacqueline said: "It's good in a way - it means I can tell people it's going to be my 21st birthday and I'll be telling the truth!

"Sometimes I do feel a lot younger than I am but at other times I really feel my age!

"I have trouble walking these days so I don't get around as much as i did."

Jacqueline will be celebrating her birthday at her home off Highfield Road, South Shore, with carers and some friends.

She first came to Blackpool 20 years ago, some time after the death of her husband George.

The couple had first met in Derby, after they had both been visiting Derbyshire Royal Infirmary and happened to call in at the little cafe across the road.

They got talking and George asked her out for a meal - and that first date led all the way to the wedding altar.

The couple, who had no chikdren, settked down to married life in the city of their birth, where George worked as a senior technical officer with British Rail.

Sadly, George died suddenly from an aneurysm, aged just 45, and to make it even more tragic, it happened on Christmas Day.

Jacqueline remembers: "He told me he'd quite like breakfast in bed, so I went down and made our breakfast.

"When I took it to him upstairs he was dead. It was a terrible shock.

"I've never liked Christmas Day since - it's always been a sad day for me since then."

Only a few yars later, she decided to relocate to Blackpool - and has never regretted it.

She said: "You can pop down to Fleetwood or Cleveleys on the tram, enjoy the seafront - there isn't really anything like that in Derby."

Now Jacqueline is looking forward to her birthday in less than a fortnight - and literally being 21 all over again!

What is a Leap Year?

In an ordinary year, if you were to count all the days in a calendar from January to December, you'd count 365 days.

But approximately every four years, February has 29 days instead of 28. So, there are 366 days in the year. 

And that's wny these birthdays occur every four years.