Some older people are being forced back into the workplace as they have discovered their retirement income is far smaller than they had anticipated, an expert has said.

Age Concern spokesperson Helen Spinney said many people reach retirement and are "shocked" by how low their income is.

"There are certainly people who have returned to work because they’ve retired to find that their retirement income isn’t anywhere near as much as they thought it would be," she said.

Earlier this year accountancy firm Wilkins Kennedy released research which showed the proportion of retired bankrupts had more than doubled in five years.

Keith Stevens, an insolvency partner at the firm, said many pensioners were going bankrupt as their pension was not enough to repay their debts and purchase necessities.

He said the older generation felt there was a stigma attached to bankruptcy and did not request help until it was too late.