Nearly half of all Briton's approaching retirement age intend to keep working in paid employment beyond the current state pension age, according to new research.

Figures from investment provider Prudential reveal some 2.6 million retirees will work beyond the age of 65 and 1.4 million say they do not know when, if ever, they will give up work.

A third of people aged 50-64 say they do not believe 'traditional' retirement is possible because of the cost involved.

"For those approaching retirement; ie 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," said Ali Crossley from Prudential UK.

"When you consider that only 16 per cent of people approaching the current state pension age think working is key to happiness, this suggests that over a third of them are working longer because they feel they have to."

Prudential says that people who reach pension age and want to stop work but feel they cannot afford do have other options, such as releasing money from their property.