THE family of a former Argus stalwart are not letting the coronavirus crisis stand in the way of celebrating their grandad’s 90th birthday.

Percy White will wake up today to find a pile of presents on the doorstep of his home in Patcham, Brighton, and quick-thinking relatives will also be hosting a virtual party for him using the Houseparty phone app.

His daughter Marion who lives just two doors down from her father, described how birthday plans were almost scuppered by the announcement of a UK-wide lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus.

The 64-year-old said: “We were going to hold a party up here on Saturday with friends and family, but when the lockdown came I had to tell everybody they couldn’t see him. But now everyone has downloaded Houseparty, so the celebrations can go ahead.”

However, today is not actually Percy’s birthday. He was born on April Fool’s Day but his mother decided to tell people it had been the following day to spare her son any inevitable jokes at his expense, Marion said.

Percy moved to Brighton in unusual circumstances when he was just 14. He had been working as an office boy at the Daily Mirror and living with his father, who had separated from his mother. But, after a disagreement with his dad, he decided to cycle all the way to Brighton to live with his mother.

There, he found a similar job with The Evening Argus and worked his way up to the top of the paper’s advertising department in a 48-year stretch with the company, broken only by the Second World War.

He retired aged 62 to spend more time with his wife and family, and was given a hard-earned hero’s send-off.

Marion said: “He was so devoted to his job. He is such an honest, hard-working man and continues to be a fantastic father. He is still as sharp as a tack.”

Percy enjoyed 61 years of marriage to Kath White, who he met at Brighton’s Regent Dance Hall.

“Mum tried to avoid him for a while but he persisted,” Marion said. “Eventually they had a dance and a date, and two years later they were married.”

Kath died five years ago, but Percy is kept busy by his big family which includes two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren as well as nieces, nephews and more, all of who will be sending birthday wishes to him today.

But Marion said a birthday message in The Argus, which he continues to read each day, “will mean more to him than anything dropped on his doorstep”. In a message to her father, she said: “Dad, in the words of Tina Turner, ‘you’re simply the best’. Happy birthday.”