Facebook's oldest user dies aged 104

Ivy Bean achieved international fame as a result of her use of the Facebook internet site despite her advanced years and she died yesterday morning.

Hours earlier she had taken a telephone call from one of her fans, singer Peter Andre.

She had attracted nearly 5,000 friends by the time she died and was also renowned for updating more than 56,000 followers on the Twitter system – more than most celebrities.

Mrs Bean set up her Facebook profile after hearing about a 97-year-old French woman who also had a profile.

And Mr Andre wasn't the only famous person she had time for, her fan base on Twitter and Facebook was star-studded – including such famous names as actor Ashton Kutcher, Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, the late footballer George Best's son, Callum, and the former Prime Minister's wife Sarah Brown.

Mrs Bean, a widow, became friends with Mr Andre after he met her at a supermarket event last year.

When he telephoned the care home, staff say she opened her eyes and "gave a little smile" for the first time in 24 hours.

Pat Wright, the manager of Hillside Manor in Bradford, said: "She hadn't opened her eyes for 24 hours before that but she did for him and gave a little smile even though she couldn't say anything.

"He told her that he was thinking about her, that she was such a strong woman and an inspiration, and told her that he loved her. When Peter rang and started talking to her we were all in tears, I just said 'Ivy, Peter's here for you'.

"Then you heard 'hello darling, it's Peter', she just opened her eyes while he said all these things and then closed them again."