One in five pensioners can't afford a holiday

Many elderly people have to rely on gifts of money from family and friends

And one in ten admitted they had not been out for a meal for more than a year for the same reason, a report said yesterday.

Help the Aged said many elderly people have to rely on gifts of money from family and friends.

Researchers found that just an extra 70p a day would make a real difference.

The charity's policy manager Anna Pearson said much of the poverty could be avoided if the Government made it easier for pensioners to receive the £4.5billion in benefits which goes unclaimed each year.

She said: "The Government has implied that older people aren't bothered about claiming small amounts such as £5 a week. But this research clearly shows this claim to be untrue."

A second study yesterday found that becoming increasingly isolated from friends and family is the issue people fear most as they head into old age.

Researchers from elderlyparents.org.uk, an advice website for children coping with aging parents, found that loneliness was a far greater worry than declining health.

It was cited as the main concern by 46 per cent of people.