A 99-year-old widow has notched up a milestone by knitting 400 woolly bonnets for premature babies born in Oxford.

Helen Sherman — who turns 100 on April 26 — took two years to reach the total.

And the feat was made all the more impressive considering she was forced to abandon her home for nine months following last year's flooding.

Mrs Sherman, from Grove, said her lifelong passion for knitting had been a great comfort during her forced evacuation.

She said: "I've been knitting all my life, but I've been knitting the hats for a couple of years — I'm quite quick now. I take my knitting wherever I go. I hate sitting doing nothing.

"Even if I am watching the television, which isn't very often because it's a load of rubbish, I must have something to do. I can't have idle hands — I can't sit with my hands in my lap."

She added: "I have been a gardener all my life, but I had a knee operation seven years ago so I have to have somebody cut the grass."

Mrs Sherman — a widow for nearly 50 years — heard about the need for babies' hats at Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital through her hairdresser, who comes to her house once a fortnight.

She said: "My hairdresser brought over a hat and I couldn't believe it would fit a baby's head. I said it would only fit a teacup, but she said it was big enough and I have been knitting them ever since.

"I have 14 for her to collect when she next comes — it's nice to think they are all used."

When the floods hit the county last year, Mrs Sherman was forced to leave her home and live with her niece in Wantage.

She said: "The water crept over the side of the brook and was indoors and over my knees in a flash. I had to be carried out of my home.

"All my furniture from when I was married 71 years ago had to be replaced — but it was my first claim on insurance since 1954, so I knew the company could afford to pay.

"It was an awful shock. During the time I was out of my house I had to go to the doctor three times — he said it was because of stress.

"I don't know what I would have done without my knitting."

It takes Mrs Sherman two hours to knit a baby's hat and at the last count she had made 410 — the equivalent of almost five weeks' solid knitting.

Lesley Mills, acting matron for the special care baby unit at the John Radcliffe, said: "We are particularly grateful to Mrs Sherman for the beautifully knitted hats she donates.

"All our premature and sick babies benefit from the warmth they provide and we really appreciate the time and effort that goes into knitting them."