One million married, widowed or divorced women in the late 1980s paid a reduced rate of National Insurance contributions in return for giving up their entitlement to a state pension.

Reforms in the late 1980s meant many of these women should have been advised to opt back into the full National Insurance system and ensure they qualified for a pension.

But there is growing evidence that some people were wrongly advised not to opt back in.

Dr Tonge has already heard from married women in Kingston and Richmond who believe they were misled by the DSS.

She is anxious to hear from anyone who has documentary evidence of receiving inaccurate advice.

Write to Dr Tonge at the House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.