Pensioners are to fight Government plans to increase their pensions by only 73p in April 2000.

The Oxfordshire Pensioners Action Group (OPAG) has written to Prime Minister Tony Blair and Chancellor Gordon Brown demanding more cash. They want an increase of £7.50, which they say would bring them to the £75 level the Government says they need as a minimum.

The move follows a resolution passed by OPAG members on October 13, to demand the increase in the basic state pension be made in line with the underlying rate of inflation, 2.1 per cent, not the headline rate of 1.1 per cent. Michael Hugh-Jones, OPAG's secretary, said: "A rise of 73p is an insult.

"Gordon Brown said earlier this year that pensioners should get a minimum of £75.

"The basic pension is just £67.50. To receive the minimum level, the Government expects pensioners to apply for income support.

"But many are trapped. If they have a work pension which brings them up to the £75, they do not qualify for the income support." In July, 120,000 signatures were collected at the National Pensioners' Convention urging more cash for pensioners, backed by OPAG.

Now OPAG is calling on Oxfordshire's six MPs to back demands for a better deal for the county's elderly. Arthur Church, 89, of Ridgefield Road, Oxford, is among pensioners who fall into the trap of being excluded from benefits, because of his work pension. He worked as a production worker for 25 years at Cowley.

Mr Church said: "I think it's disgusting. You only have to take the average wage and compare it with our basic pension to see we are getting a very raw deal."

Story date: Monday 18 October

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