NEARLY 50,000 people across the district are now saving towards their retirement through an auto-enrolment initiative, new figures show.

Under the Government scheme, employers must enrol staff aged 22 and over who earn more than £10,000 into a pension.

Figures from the Pensions Regulator show that 47,000 workers across the Bradford district have been enrolled since the venture was launched in 2012.

MP Philip Davies welcomes the scheme.

In his Shipley constituency, which includes Cullingworth and Denholme, 1,190 businesses have signed-up and 9,000 workers are now saving.

"It is essential we change the way we save for pensions," he said.

"Things like this seem a long way off, especially the younger a person is, and that is why I believe automatic enrolment is the solution.

"It takes away the need to think about a pension and will change the way we save money.

"It will become the norm for generations to come to start saving towards retirement when they begin work, so every pound they earn will count.

"Businesses in Shipley are on board and helping their staff create a more financially-secure future and I delighted to see so many taking part."

Nationally, more than one million employers are signed-up, with 9.3 million employees registered in the scheme.

Pensions Minister Guy Opperman said: "We believe that the retirement saving habit needs to be established at the start of a working life."

He added that the age for automatic enrolment is to be lowered from 22 to 18, to bring an extra 900,000 people into workplace pensions.