A CAMPAIGN group from Ilkley braved bad weather last week to raise awareness of a national drive to make pension arrangements fairer.

Ilkley Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) joined other WASPI groups from around Yorkshire to march through Harrogate to raise awareness of the plight of women who are suffering financially and emotionally due to the acceleration of the state pension age.

The event, to celebrate International Women's Day on March 8, was well attended with the women saying it was more important than ever to take action and lobby the Government to show the full impact of increasing the pension age.

The group's stance is that changes to pensions under the 2011 Pension Act were implemented too quickly, when many women had already made retirement plans.

WASPI said increasing the pension age to 65 "without adequate notice" left a lot of women with no time to make alternative arrangements.