A STOURPORT care worker is getting ready for a once in a lifetime royal appointment after grateful elderly residents bagged her an invitation to a Buckingham Palace garden party.

Sheltered accommodation warden, Audrey Cox, is still finding it hard to believe she will come face to face with the Queen on Tuesday, July 11.

The 62-year-old received the prestigious invitation after Doris Lock, who lives with her husband, Gilbert, in Sion Gardens, wrote to Tony Blair more than 18 months ago.

After recruiting the support of three of her neighbours, Jim James, Irene Unwin and Rene Miller, she finally completed her recognition mission when the prized invitation landed on Mrs Cox's doorstep in April.

The mother-of-four, who lives on-site at William Bullock Close, said she was "totally overwhelmed" by the news but was looking forward to the big day.

She said: "The people here are just fantastic and they are like my extended family. There are so many different characters and I just love each and every one of them. I do not only help them but they support me and give advice.

"I am still finding it hard to believe that I am actually going to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace. It is just a dream come true and I can't wait."

Mrs Lock, who has lived at her bungalow home for nine years, is hoping her warden will relish the trip, which comes just days before she celebrates her silver wedding anniversary with husband, Ray.

The 85-year-old said: "I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister to see if she might be given an award for everything she does here. That was passed on to the Cabinet Office and it was sorted from there.

"Everybody here loves her and we thought it was about time she got something because you see all these sportsmen and actors getting things all the time. We would all be lost without her."

Mrs Cox, who is responsible for residents in 43 flats and bungalows, has been reading through the pages of notes sent with the invitation on what to expect at the party and which protocols must be observed.

She added: "I have been told by my eldest daughter, Julie, I can't go out and buy any clothes unless I am with her. We are going to go on a girlie shopping day in the next couple of weeks to sort my outfit."