One in four people aged 55 and over in this region feel alone and mix with very few people, according to a survey out today.

The work carried out by MORI and commissioned by the Help the Aged British Gas Partnership focused on the two million people in that age group who live in Yorkshire, Humberside and the north east.

It found that 25 per cent feel alone and socialise with very few people, marginally more than the national figure of 20 per cent, which falls to 12 per cent in the south west and Wales.

In this region 12 per cent of over-55s feel isolated, ten per cent feel trapped in their own home, and in the last year nine per cent felt like no-one knew they existed, against seven per cent nationally.

The survey marks the start of a new campaign by the partnership to highlight isolation and loneliness among older people, including a hard-hitting advert declaring "Free our old age prisoners".

Overall, the survey found nearly one million people over 65 in Britain are isolated and over a million feel trapped in their own home. The most severely isolated and lonely are people over 75, particularly older women, those who are widowed and those living alone.

Better health was highlighted by 36 per cent ads they way to lessen their loneliness, while 16 per cent wanted better income. Others wanted more police on the beat (12 per cent) and different aspects of personal support, such as someone to visit and having help to get out and about.

Mervyn Kohler, head of public affairs at Help the Aged, said: "This survey graphically illustrates the sheer scale of the terrible loneliness and isolation felt by many older people in Britain and shows that poverty and poor health play a key role.

"Clearly the important challenge to the Government is to address the problems of low incomes and poor health."