Many Britons are expecting company pension schemes to be cut back should the government opt to increase taxation on schemes.

This is according to findings from Hymans Robertson, which revealed 61 per cent of people live in fear of such reductions, while less than half (47 per cent) are unaware of the increase in taxation.

Patrick Bloomfield, partner at Hymans Robertson, commented: "In an environment where even large companies such as BP and Barclays are closing their pension schemes, people are rightly concerned that their ability to save for retirement will suffer due to the recent Budget changes."

He added that employers and their employees should come to a conclusion which suits all parties involved.

Additional statistics showed that 45 per cent of the nation believes that increasing tax on pensions for people earning in excess of £150,000 is a bad idea.

Propertyfinder.com reported in April that the total value of pensioner property had fallen by £220 billion to £800 billion in the last year.