Nearly half of people approaching retirement plan to remain in paid employment when they reach 65, while a third intend to do voluntary work, research shows today.

One in three Britons aged between 50 and 64 claim they do not believe a traditional retirement is possible any more, and 22% said they did not know if they would ever retire.

Plans to keep working among future pensioners contrast with those who have already retired, 94% of whom had stopped working by the time they were 65, with one in four stopping at or before they were 55.

Just 6% of people said they had continued to work beyond the age of 65, according to insurer Prudential.

The group said the research suggested a new age of retirement was dawning, in which people no longer gave up work at a set age, but instead adopted a more flexible approach to being a pensioner.

Ali Crossley, of Prudential UK, said: "Until very recently, for many people, retirement meant stopping work at the state pension age after 40 or so years of labour.

"However, for those approaching retirement - people in their 50s and early 60s - it isn't quite so simple.

"Many are choosing to carry on working past the current state pension age either because they want to or because they need to."

She said some people now lived for 20 years or more past the age of 65, and for many work was their mental stimulation and formed an important part of their social life.

The majority of people planning to work beyond 65 wanted to continue in the same or similar job, with 78% saying they would not want to retrain to take on a less stressful job, although 16% said they would actively look to learn new skills.

About 12% of people aged between 50 to 64 said it was likely they would always have to do some work to make ends meet, compared with just 3% of those who had already retired.

Among those approaching the state pension age, 16% said happiness during retirement would involve some form of paid work, compared with just 6% of existing pensioners.

Instead, of those who were currently retired, 79% saw their hobbies as being important, compared with just 61% of those aged between 50 and 64.

But only around one in 10 of both groups thought relaxing and doing very little was the key to a happy retirement.

People in southern England are most likely to be planning to continue working beyond the age of 65 at 56%, while those in the East are most likely to want to retire at this age at 25%.

Experian questioned 1,000 people between March 27 and April 7.