An 86-year-old woman has spent over £1,000 on a Christmas dinner for 50 strangers, as she didn't want the lonely or elderly to miss out on the joys of the festive season. The retired teacher, who has remained anonymous, hired the Lamb and Flag pub near her home in Devon for the meal on December 23rd and has invited anyone in the area who would otherwise be alone over Christmas to come to the party. According to Mirror Online, she said that she had faced Christmas alone since her husband died 12 years ago and "decided on the spur of the moment" to throw the celebration. “I’ve been watching programmes on television about food banks and people by themselves being in trouble. Usually I send money to charities at Christmas, but rather than do that this year I thought about something local," she said. “That’s really how the idea came about. Nobody knows it is me - but they might find out on the day. When I get down there I shall probably see faces I recognise, but I have no idea who will be there and why. I don’t have any close relatives at all. I was an only child, my husband was an only child, and we live miles away from other relatives.” The woman had said that she had expected to spend the big day "on my own with a tin of soup" but had now been invited to have dinner with friends.