Trade unions have criticised a government-sponsored report calling for a radical shake-up of pensions, describing it as a "sell-out of millions of workers".

We could be looking at the biggest pensions rip-off in history

GMB Union chief John Edmonds

Roger Lyons, head of the manufacturing union Amicus, said the proposed reforms spell "disaster for practically every couple in the country," and would "lead to pensioner poverty in the long term".

The proposals, set out in a report by pensions expert Alan Pickering, are designed to make workers shoulder more responsibility for saving for their retirement.

If the proposals are accepted, the obligation for company pension funds to pay benefits to pensioners' widows and widowers would be ditched.

The link between pensions and inflation would be severed and workers could be forced to join company pension plans.

Shortfall

The Pickering report forms part of moves aimed at encouraging workers to put aside more money for their old age.

The money currently saved in pension funds falls short of what would be required to guarantee the working population an adequate retirement income by about �27bn.

Pickering's key suggestions

End of inflation link for company pensions Easier for people to accumulate pensions Private pension laws scrapped A new pensions act Get rid of red tape Fewer types of pensions Give employers more freedom to design their own pensions Less government interference

Work and pensions secretary Andrew Smith welcomed the report, describing it as "radical, ambitious and pragmatic."

However, he added that the proposals "are not attractive" on first reading.

John Edmonds, head of the GMB union, echoed Mr Lyons' concerns.

"We could be looking at the biggest pensions rip-off in history," he said.

"This report consigns hard-working people to an old age of increasing poverty," he said.

Fraud fears

Some observers have also raised concerns about a proposed relaxation of pensions red tape tightened, in part, after the 1990 scandal in which Robert Maxwell raided the Mirror pension fund.

Robert Maxwell conspired to raid the company pension fund

But Mr Pickering said the current regime makes it more rather than less easy for fraudsters to misuse workers' retirement savings.

"If there were to be another Maxwell, he would have an easy way in," Mr Pickering told reporters.

"All he would have to do is hide under a mountain of red tape and no-one would see him coming."

New regulator

Mr Pickering proposed "new kind" of regulator, acting as adviser as well as watchdog.

"The regulatory regime should place greater reliance on professionals exercising and backing their judgment," the report said.

This will help employers run and maintain schemes and encourage more people - including the self employed - to save for retirement

Joanne Segars, ABI

Joanne Segars, head of pensions at the Association of British Insurers, welcomed the proposals.

She said: "Alan Pickering's ideas for a simpler pensions framework will help Britain to save. This will help employers run and maintain schemes and encourage more people - including the self-employed - to save for retirement."

The Pickering report will feed into a government consultation paper on pensions to be published in the autumn.

Disappointment

But some analysts were sceptical that the proposals from Mr Pickering, a former head of the National Association of Pension Funds, would boost retirement saving.

"The government are trying to improve pension distribution to lower-income employees," Steve Bee, head of pensions strategy at Scottish Life, told BBC News Online.

"(The Pickering report) is nothing to do with that," he said, describing the proposals as a "damp squib."

Experts say the problem lies with complex tax and benefit entitlement rules which make pensions an inefficient way of saving for many low-paid workers.