Beacons are set to be lit tonight (Thursday) to celebrate the 90th birthday of her Majesty the Queen.

At Broxted, the beacon will be lit in the car park at the Prince of Wales pub in Brick End.

The flame will be set off at 7.30pm by Dick Knowles a village resident who is also 90 this year. The villagers will then carry on celebrating in the pub.

In Little Easton, the beacon will be lit at 8.30pm in a field at the centre of the village and afterwards the festivities will continue in The Stag pub with live music and birthday cake.

The Queen’s birthday will also be celebrated in the afternoon by a party for other 90-year-olds and their friends at the Cutler’s Kitchen Day Centre in Thaxted, where six nonagenarians will receive a medal donated by Uttlesford District Council. There will also be a party at the Rowena Davey Centre on Friday. Other celebrations will be on June 11, the Queen’s official birthday marked annually with the Trooping of the Colour in London. These include parties at Takeley Community Centre and the Crafton Room in Stansted.