A DOCTOR who cared for hundreds of Worcester patients has celebrated his 100th birthday.

Bruce Milligan, who joined Thorneloe Lodge surgery in Barbourne in 1946, will mark his centenary with a family gathering.

Dr Milligan was born in the Wirral on June 8, 1911, during the reign of George V.

He read medicine at the University of Edinburgh and qualified as a doctor in 1935 before volunteering to join the Royal Army Medical Corps.

The father-of-two was posted to Catterick and it was there he met his future wife, Peggie, whom he married in August 1940.

Dr Milligan spent the majority of his war years on troop ships and travelled all over the world.

The grandfather-of-four was demobbed in 1945 and entered into a partnership with Dr Jack Ingles and Dr Joe Berry at Thorneloe. He was later joined by Dr Allan Laidlaw and Dr Janet Osborn, and practised at the Worcester surgery for more than 30 years.

As well as his GP work, Dr Milligan was also Honorary Medical Officer to Worcester Amateur Boxing Club for 30 years, Honorary Medical Officer to Worcester Racing, Local Medical Treasury Officer, Medical Officer to the Metal Box Company and advisor to several insurance companies.

He was a keen Freemason, rising to high office in several degrees, and also a member of the Hadley Bowling Club for over three decades.

Both Dr Milligan and Mrs Milligan were keen members of Droitwich and Worcester Boughton Golf Clubs and another passion of his is ornithology and wildlife.

The couple relocated from their home in Malvern to Burcot Grange residential care home near Bromsgrove in 2002.

Mrs Milligan died in June 2007, after 67 happy years of marriage.

The couple had two children, Ian and Valerie.

Dr Milligan, who is also a great grandfather of one, still resides at Burcot Grange.