COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

An area in Warwickshire has one of the lowest rates in the UK of people over 50 being employed, a study has found.



In the Rugby local authority area, 29.5% of the group worked in 2009-10.

This was the 10th lowest council area figure in the UK, according to the BBC-commissioned research carried out by Experian.

The average employment rate of adults over 50 in the UK was 38.1%. The study looked at how areas will be affected by an increasing ageing population.

Over 65s in Coventry & Warwickshire

Miles Mackie, Coventry City Council research coordinator, said he suspected the closure of factories might be a factor behind the Rugby area figure.

He said: "As big factories close, people take early retirement. There have been quite a lot of closures over the last 10 years in that area."

Mr Mackie cited job losses at Peugeot in Ryton and GEC in Rugby.

He added: "New firms often look for younger skilled workers."

The Department for Work and Pensions said 16.5% of people in the UK were over 65, but this figure was set to rise to 22% by 2031.