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A single pensioner has launched a legal battle to change his age so he can go back to work and meet more women on Tinder.

Emile Ratelband, 69, wants to be recognised as a 49-year-old because he feels 20 years younger, but his application was refused by his local authority.

He argues that if transgender people are legally allowed to change sex, he should be allowed to give himself a new birth date because doctors told him he has the body of a 45-year-old.

The entrepreneur and self-help guru, from the Netherlands, is suing his local authority after they refused the amend his age on official documents.

(Image: CEN)

Mr Ratelband's case has now gone to a court in the city of Arnhmen in the eastern Dutch provice of Gelderland.

He was born on March 11, 1949, but says he feels at least 20 years younger and wants to change his birth date to March 11, 1969.

Mr Ratelband said: "I have done a check-up and what does it show? My biological age is 45 years.

"When I'm 69, I am limited. If I'm 49, then I can buy a new house, drive a different car. I can take up more work.

"When I'm on Tinder and it say I'm 69, I don't get an answer.

(Image: CEN)

"When I'm 49, with the face I have, I will be in a luxurious position.

"Transgenders can now have their gender changed on their birth certificate, and in the same spirit there should be room for an age change."

He claims he is discriminated against because of his age, and that he encounters problems in society on a daily basis.

He said companies are reluctant to hire someone the age of a pensioner as a consultant.

And he said his move would also be good news for the government as he would be renouncing his pension until he reaches retirement age again.

The judge said that he had some sympathy with Mr Ratelband, but the court said there would be practical problems in allowing people to change their birth date - as it would mean legally deleting part of their lives.

The judge asked Mr Ratelband about the status of his early years, from 1949 to 1969, if his official birth date was put back.

"For whom did your parents care in those years? Who was that little boy back then?" the judge asked.

The court is due to deliver a written ruling within four weeks.