A TALENTED care home resident with a knack for crochet work laboured over a "beautiful" tribute to soldiers killed in the First World War.

Ahead of Remembrance Sunday, Beryl Orton, 75, took it upon herself to lovingly craft hundreds of crochet poppies for a poignant tribute.

The fitting memorial was put in place at Heseltine Care Home, in Clacton, with Beryl crafting one poppy every five minutes to finish the job in record time.

"It keeps me busy, I think I'd be lost without it," she said.

"It is 100 years ago today and I thought it was important to do it.

"I have been crocheting since I was young - it has always been a hobby."

Beryl has been a resident at Heseltine Court, in Clacton, for ten years.

"It's lovely here," she said.

"There's plenty of company if you want it and plenty of opportunity for peace and quiet if you don't."

Heidi Standley, home manager, said: "I think it is amazing for one person to create this amount of poppies in such a short time.

"She finished more than 300 poppies.

"Beryl does lots of crochet blankets and sells them for coffee mornings and does a huge amount for charity.

"We had mentioned we wanted to do a nice display to mark the centenary and thought it would be lovely to to put poppies with it. "She just volunteered and said 'I'll do them.'"