Pensioners are being left in pain and misery amid a sharp rise in NHS rationing of hip and knee surgery, doctors have warned.

New figures show 7,000 fewer operations carried out in the last year - despite a steep rise in the elderly population.

The Royal College of Surgeons said patients were being unfairly denied operations by arbitrary policies, including those which restrict them to those in most pain.

Over the last decade the number of pensioners in the UK has risen by more than 2 million.

But the analysis shows the number of NHS knee replacements has fallen by 4,700 in one year alone, while the number of hip operations dropped by more than 2,500, during 2017/18.

It follows the introduction of widespread rationing measures, including those which delay operations until patients have lost weight, given up smoking and others which refuse surgery to those in intense and persistent pain.

The British Orthopaedic Association has expressed fears that such patients could end up addicted to opiates, because they are forced to rely on pain killers for so long.

Professor Neil Mortensen, Vice President of the Royal College of Surgeons, urged NHS authorities to lift the restrictions, saying that short-term attempts to cut costs could harm patients, and leave them in misery.