Women from across the region are being invited to a special meeting in St Laurence Church, Stroud on Thursday 3 May to discuss changes to the pension age which have been branded as unfair.

There is an anger that women born in the 1950s will have to wait a further two years and sometimes longer until they are paid the state pension.

Stroud MP David Drew has written to 5,400 women in the constituency likely to have been affected by the government pension changes, to invite them to the meeting.

It will be an opportunity to find out more about their state pension age (SPA), the new National Insurance requirements and how to get involved in the campaign for fairer pensions for women.

"The government's decision to accelerate the change to state pension age has meant that women born in the 1950s did not receive enough notice to plan for their new circumstances," said Mr Drew.

"Many women did not receive any information about the changes at all. The pace of change has been confusing; some women have had to wait an extra two years for their pensions, while others face a wait of six years."

The MP is backing the campaign by WASPI, Women Against State Pension Inequality, which is calling for a transitional state pension to bridge the gap for women affected, plus compensation for those who have reached state pension age, but have not had enough time to prepare for the change.

Elizabeth Stanley, local coordinator for the WASPI group in Stroud said: "Some of those women have paid into the system for 45 years and are now expected to 'sign on' and get Jobseeker's Allowance. It is an outrage."

Mr Drew's office has already received calls and emails from women from across Stroud who are concerned and outraged about how the change will affect them.

"We have had constituents tell us that they are faced with down-sizing or selling their home, because of the impact of these changes. Others are very worried about their future," said the MP.

In 2017, a change was made to the requirements for National Insurance contributions (NIC) to qualify for a full pension, increasing contributions from 30 years to 35 years. Once again, women were not notified of this change.

"Women in their sixties have been unfairly treated and ought to receive compensation for the lack of notice and a bridging pension to help cover the gap between their old State Pension Age of sixty, and their new one," said Mr Drew, who has joined the WASPI All Party Parliamentary Group to campaign on the issue.

"I have challenged the government on this issue in parliament and urged it to put right the historic injustice now facing women who were born in the 1950s."

All are welcome at the meeting on Thursday 3 May at 5.30pm at St Laurence Church, The Shambles, Stroud, GL5 1AP.