CAMPAIGNERS against pensioner poverty called on the Government yesterday to "stop ignoring older people" as a survey revealed new depths of pensioner hardship.

As the Labour Party conference got under way in Blackpool, charity workers said older people in depriv-ed areas of the North-East were facing a winter of poverty, crime and isolation.

The shocking survey for charity Help the Aged revealed that 45 per cent of pensioners were living in poverty, with 15 per cent going without food on occasions.

Of the 600 people surveyed, 40 per cent of pensioners said they had been a victim of one or more types of crime recently, with only seven per cent saying they felt safe going out after dark.

And, although the majority had contact with family and neighbours, a quarter of people said they felt intense isolation.

Mervyn Kohler, of Help the Aged, said: "The shocking poverty and low quality of life experienced by so many people in the most deprived areas of the country is a disgrace.

"The Government must re-examine its priorities and pledge to end pensioner poverty, as it has pledged to end poverty for children."

Alma Caldwell, chief executive of Age Concern North Tyneside, said that many older people did not realise the range of benefits which were available to them. Help with council tax was one of the most under-claimed benefits in the North-East, along with invalid care allowance for over 65s, help with dental and glasses costs, and attendance allowance for help with home services such as shopping.

Said Alma: "Our experience is that people are frightened by claim forms and therefore don't fill them in. If people get the claims they are entitled to there is no need for anyone to go hungry."

David Abrahams, North-East director of the Campaign Against Pensioners' Poverty, said the Government had put money into combating elderly poverty, but the effects were not being felt quickly enough.

"The North-East is made-up of solid, working class communities and pensioners are suffering," he said. "A lot of them don't own their houses or have any assets and are just surviving on their pensions."