Banks should keep paper billing despite the digital revolution, the ONS has warned, as it revealed that more than five million adults still do not use the internet.

While the gap between luddites and their tech-savvy contemporaries is narrowing each year, a report has emphasised the need for analogue alternatives to vital internet-based services such as banking and billing.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that not only would this “enable everyone to participate fully in society” but it would also prevent pensioners and disabled people from becoming “digitally excluded”.

The report said those who cannot access services on the internet could miss out on earnings opportunities and employability benefits, money savings when shopping, and the ability to communicate with friends and family.

The ONS report published today found that since 2011, the number of UK adults not using the internet has been steadily declining, with the majority being over 65-years-old.

However 5.3 million adults had either never used the internet, or had not used it within the last three months, according to the survey last year. More than half were at least 75-years-old.

The ONS said that these figures “reflect the pattern of the younger generations becoming more likely to be frequent internet users”. It also found that 23.3 per cent of adults not using the internet were disabled.