Supermarket chain Asda is launching a recruitment campaign targeting bingo halls and tea dances as it looks to attract more older workers.

The company hopes to increase the proportion of over 50s working in its 252 stores from about 16% to one-in-five.

Recruitment teams will be going out to target older people with advertising flyers, and posters and shelf labels will appear in stores.

Asda said workers over 50 were often just as capable and enthusiastic as their younger colleagues.

10,000 jobs

The group has also seen absenteeism drop to levels a third below its national average at stores with a high percentage of older staff.

Half the workforce at Asda's store in Broadstairs, Kent are aged over 50, followed by 31% at Golbourne, Greater Manchester and 22% in Eastbourne.

David Smith, Asda's people director, said: "By overlooking the over 50s, it's not just the older members of society that are losing out, but businesses too."

In January, Asda revealed plans to create 10,000 new jobs and the recruitment campaign launch is part of that drive.

The CBI estimates a third of the UK's over 50s are currently out of work.