Bristol pensioner Eileen Morris was glad Chancellor Alistair Darling pledged to raise the state pension again despite the recession hitting the country harder than expected.

In his pre-budget report, Mr Darling announced an increase in the basic state pension of 2.5 per cent in April 2010 from £103.24 to almost £106.

Miss Morris, 86, who lives on Broadfield Road, Knowle, said: "It's good they're trying to help out the pensioners. We live in an expensive world these days and every pound counts."

Miss Morris gets a state pension plus a small work pension of £416.88 per year from her time as a quality control worker at Berger Paints, which used to be based in Hengrove.

She said she would have liked to have seen rises in the winter fuel allowance, as the Government has done over the past few years for the over-80s. But VAT returning to 17.5 per cent from 15 per cent from January 1, 2010, means everyone will have to pay slightly more for goods.

She said: "Things will be a bit more expensive so it's a good job the pension is going up."