Two in five people planning to retire this year would work past the age of 65 if they were given the opportunity, a new report has shown.

An insurance and pensions firm has published the results of a survey which shows that 48 per cent of men and 32 per cent of women would be happy to continue working past the state pension age.

More than two thirds (68 per cent) of respondents revealed that they wanted to stay in work to remain physically healthy and mentally active, while 54 per cent revealed that they enjoy working.

Despite wanting to stay in the workforce, Prudential's report shows that 87 per cent of this year's retirees do not wish to continue working full-time with their current employer.

Nearly half would prefer to work part-time, while 11 per cent would like to set up their own business and five per cent would volunteer at a charity.

Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed that the average retirement age for men has risen to 64.6 from 63.8 in 2004, while women are now leaving the workforce at an average age of 62.3 compared with 61.2 eight years ago.