The number of single pensioners with internet access at home has tripled in the past decade, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics. 

“Silver surfers” are going online in greater numbers to communicate electronically, providing a lifeline to those who live far away from family or who cannot leave their homes easily.

 
Just 11 per cent of one person households over state pensionable age had internet access at home in 2000. Now the figure stands at almost 40 per cent. 

In 2008, the year of the most recent figures to be released, the number of single “silver surfers” with regular household web access had risen to 37 per cent. 

The ONS figures also found that Britons use the web to communicate with friends and family more than they use it for any other activity. 

A total of 90 per cent of all internet users aged 16-74 who had gone online in the past three months did so to send and receive emails. 

Other activities included finding information (78 per cent), online banking (55 per cent), and playing music or watching films (43 per cent). 

The figures came as Age UK, Britains biggest group representing the elderly, warned that it was important that older people should not be left behind in the digital world. 

Miriam Margolyes, the 69-year-old Harry Potter actress and Age UK ambassador, said: “The internet is an essential resource that allows everyone to communicate, learn, save money and – most importantly – have fun. 

“I’ve used the internet for years to keep in touch with friends and family, for shopping and research; I know the difference that it can make to people’s lives, especially we older people. 

Michelle Mitchell, Charity Director at Age UK, said: “It is good news that more and more people in later life are getting online, and we want to see this trend continue. There are lots of benefits that using the internet can bring, including keeping in contact with friends and family more easily and making savings online. 

“To help encourage older people to get online, this week Age UK is running its annual itea and biscuits week, where over 1000 local events are taking place across the country to help provide IT taster sessions to older people." 

Edward George, 93, from East Sussex, who started using the internet 11 years ago, said: “Before my daughter convinced me to use her laptop I didn’t know a great deal about the internet, but now I can’t imagine my life without it. Leaving the house has become more difficult and so the internet has been a lifeline, allowing me to easily keep in contact with family. 

An ICM poll conducted for Age UK found that more than a third of people aged over 65 would have kept in touch with friends and family more if they had learnt how to use the internet sooner. 

It also found that around 6 million pensioners have never used the internet. Yesterday’s ONS study concluded that the gap between pensioners who had access to the internet and under 65s who did was still great. 

The figures showed that while 37 per cent of 65s who lived alone had the internet at home a total of 79 per cent one person households under 65 did. 

Almost three quarters of British households now have internet access compared to 57 per cent four years ago, the figures also disclosed. 

The number of broadband users is also growing rapidly. Last year 90 per cent of households with internet access used some form of broadband connection compared with just 69 per cent in 2006. 

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