The editor of The Citizen has written to the Prime Minister asking him to appoint a minister for the elderly.

The move comes as part of the Gloucester paper’s campaign for better rights for pensioners after the death of 88-year-old Violet Townsend, five days after she was moved from her care home.

In his letter to Tony Blair, Ian Mean wrote: “The Citizen’s campaign has highlighted the disturbing lack of control elderly people now have over their lives and the fragile nature of the safety net intended to protect them.

“Older people have very real worries about pensions, working for longer and the impact overstretched and often underfunded social services departments have on them.”

The 2001 census figures showed that the number of elderly people in the UK has more than doubled since 1961, and by 2014 there were expected to be more pensioners than youngsters under 16.

Ian urged the PM to follow the creation of a minister for children by giving “similar considerations to the need of the elderly”.

Local Gloucestershire MPs Parmjit Dhanda, Laurence Robertson and David Drew have all backed the Citizen’s campaign.

Mr Drew said: “We have a Children’s Minister and a Women’s Minister, so why shouldn’t we have an Older People’s Minister?

“Older people feel rather neglected at the moment, and with the elderly population steadily growing these are issues we cannot ignore.”

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