PENSIONERS' groups in the region have criticised the Government for forcing the elderly to go "cap in hand" for benefits - despite reports that they could get a minimum income of £100 a week.

Age Concern Teesside has spoken out against suggestions that Chancellor Gordon Brown is finalising plans for a guaranteed income of £100 a week for the country's 11 million pensioners.

The move is to pre-empt calls for a review of pensions at next week's TUC Congress in Glasgow and at Labour's annual conference later in the month.

Currently, a single pensioner receives £67.50 a week, topped up by the minimum income guarantee of £78.45 if they do not have a private pension, or savings above £8,000.

Elizabeth Briggs, director of operations at Age Concern Teesside, said: "What we really want is £100 state pension for everyone. This new money may include those just above the poverty line but it will also exclude those that have made provision for their future.

"People should have sufficient money to live on and not have to go for extra benefits.

"We want something that gives respect to pensioners across the board without them having to go cap in hand for benefit top-ups."

Union officials have campaigned against the current pensioners' credit, claiming it is unfair and many pensioners do not understand the paperwork.

Mike Brider, of the North-East TGWU, said the union would not be satisfied with the rise, which includes an above-inflation rise in pensions.

But Dave Abrahams, the North-East-based director of the Campaign Against Pensioners' Poverty, welcomed the £100 guaranteed income for the region's elderly.

He said: "I am absolutely delighted and I am sure everyone else, whether a pensioner or not, will welcome the move."