'I will never give up': Britain's long-serving poppy seller has been raising money for 75 straight YEARS

Britain's longest-serving poppy seller has been out in the rain ahead of Remembrance Sunday - raising cash for the 75th year in a row.

Olive Cooke, 91, started selling poppies in 1938 to raise money for her father's legion, and she hasn't stopped for eight decades.

The dedicated mother-of-three whose husband died in WWII, has maintained her hard work, raising thousands for charity on her own.

The selfless nonagenarian was back on the streets this week in the run up to Remembrance Day, continuing to raise vital funds for the much-loved organisation.

She said: 'I will never give up - it is important to remember the people who died in the wars, and are still dying now.

'It was my main interest following the war and I became the standard bearer in the Bedminster Down Women’s section and took office of secretary and later chairman.

'My father, Fred Canning, was in the Royal Irish Regiment and he had told me tales of how he fought at Gallipoli in the First World War, ever since I was a little girl sitting on his knee.

'I carried the standard for 54 years until 1998. I sold poppies every year and was given a special medal from the Royal British Legion for 66 years of continuous selling.

'I’ve now added even more years to that and am up to 75 now.'

Mrs Cooke, who lives in Fishponds, Bristol, met husband Leslie Hussey-Yeo in 1939, a handsome sailor with the Royal Navy who was about to leave the service and settle down.

But the start of the Second World War meant he had to continue serving on submarines and he was killed in action in 1943 when Mrs Cooke was just 21.

She said: 'The poppies took on a whole new meaning for me when I lost my first husband, Leslie, in 1943.

'We just had two-and-a-half years together when he was killed on the submarine HMS Thunderbolt.

'It was lost in the Sicily invasion, March 1943, by depth charge.

'Losing my husband when I was just 21 years of age, I vowed to always sell poppies.

'He was a loving and genuine man, and I had great times with him in those couple of years we had together.'

Mrs Cooke proudly wears her British Royal Legion medal alongside the distinguished service medal Leslie was awarded after his death for bravery in hazardous conditions.

She is also helping to raise £10,000 for Help for Heroes by teaming up with local singer John Billitteri by getting one million pennies of donations.

Mrs Cooke added: 'When the men come back from Afghanistan, some with limbs gone, they may be helped firstly by Help for Heroes, but then the Legion will also help them later in life.

'Both groups do excellent work.'