The House of Lords has ruled that part-time workers can claim pension rights from their employers as far back as 1976.

But workers will miss out on their entitlements if they don't make their claims within six months of leaving their employer.

Unions were claiming a victory today in the struggle for equal rights for part-timers.

According to Linda Gregory of the finance union Unifi, at least 40,000 women will now be able to boost their retirement incomes - by hundreds if not thousands of pounds a year.

Long running dispute

This battle dates back to 1990, when the European Court of Justice said that the exclusion of part-timers from pension schemes discriminated against women.

Facing a huge cost, employers said they didn't have to backdate part-timers pension rights further than two years.

Last May, the European Court said that two-year limit was unlawful - but did not say what the limit should be.

On Thursday, that was finally defined when the House of Lords said part-timers could claim pension rights as far back as 1976.

Employers struggle

Tom Flanagan, who represented employers in this case, said some companies may struggle to meet the cost of paying those pension.

But while 40,000 part-timers will now get better pensions, a further 40,000 will be disappointed.

They failed to claim their rights within six months of leaving their old employer.

The Lords ruled that their claims came too late.