Oldies get claws out over dowdy image

People aged 65 and over would prefer to be called “grey panthers” than old-age pensioners, a new survey suggests.

Some 97 per cent of over-65s said they disliked the term “elderly” as politicians faced calls to use phrases which represent the “diverse demographic” of Britain’s older generation.

The survey of 2,500 pensioners found two in five people preferred the term “senior citizen” to elderly or OAP, while “retired person”, “silver surfer” and “grey panther” were also favoured.

Every region of the country listed “senior citizen” as the most popular term.