Local Lib Dem, Peter Taylor, said:

"It is a scandal that so many older people are missing out on money they should be getting as of right. For Merton, this scandal represents a loss to the local economy of as much as £125, 000.

"In the short term, I hope everyone who is unsure about their entitlements will ring the Pension Service helpline on 0800 99 1234 to find out if they are missing out.

"In the long term, we need to provide pensioners with a decent pension that isn't falling further and further below the poverty line each year. The Liberal Democrats want to take millions of pensioners off means-testing by boosting the basic state pension to £109 a week and basing it on residency rather than National Insurance contributions. Until the pension system is made far less complicated older people will continue to lose out."

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Notes to editors:

The Pension Credit is a means-tested benefit for people over 60 with low incomes. It ensures that an individual doesn't live on less than £109.45 a week, and a couple on less than £167.05 a week.

Calls to the Pension Credit application line are freephone: 0800 99 1234. Lines are open Monday to Friday between 8am - 8pm and Saturdays 9am - 1pm

The figures were published by the Department for Work and Pensions on 20th October. The most recent figures do not appear to have been made available on the website yet but they can be emailed on request.

The estimate of how many pensioners are missing out applies the national non-take up rate of 34.2% to the local figures. Nationally, the Government estimates that 5 million pensioners are eligible for Pension Credit. With only 3,291,250 in receipt that means that nationally, 1.7 million pensioners are missing out.

The estimate of how much the local economy is missing out on is estimated from the number of people missing out locally times the average payment for pensioners in the area who do receive the Pension Credit.