Elderly people who spend most of their time sitting down age significantly quicker than more active contemporaries, according to new research.

A study of 1,500 pensioners found those who kept to a sedentary position for ten hours or more a day and who did less than 40 minutes moderate physical activity had the bodies of people eight years older.

They were discovered to have shorter telomeres, the tiny caps found on the ends of strands of DNA which protect chromosomes and which are associated with faster ageing.