Wigan grandad finally gets to toast his 18th birthday

Jack Bundred, from Ashton, is finally enjoying his coming of age as a leap year baby with family and friends.

Today Mr Bundred will celebrate his true birthday, which only comes around every four years. Although he will be turning 72 this year, this means that officially it will be his big 18th.

The grandad-of-two said it would be nice to raise a glass to mark him reaching the “legal” age for drinking. He said: “It’s nice to reach the legal age for drinking and I’ll be having a Jameson whisky and some beers to celebrate.

“Having a birthday on a leap year is quite unusual and I choose to celebrate two birthdays on February 28 and March 1 if I can get away with it when it’s not a leap year.”

Born in Bootle, Mr Bundred moved to Ashton in 1971 and has lived there ever since. He has worked at a bakery, as well as working as a conductor and driver on the buses at Ribble Motors, and driving wagons for his final 23 years at Asda’s Goose Green warehouse in Wigan.

Mr Bundred also believes he must have been one of the last leap year babies born outside of the NHS as that was only formed in July 1948.

He said thatlife was very different growing up in leap years decades ago.

“Everyone was really poor and no one had much with it being just after the war.

“People lived in council houses and had no cars and life was really different.

Mr Bundred, who is also a dad-of-two, plans to celebrate his big 18th with wife of 50 years Eve Bundred and friends in Liverpool.

He added: “We’re going to Liverpool for a day out on the 29th with friends as we’ve got tickets to see the Prince of Wales aircraft carrier.

“We’ll be having drinks and a meal and I plan to celebrate hard.”