Case Study JOHN Fergusson got a job in his local steelworks when he left school in Ayr aged 15. After 46 years' hard graft, he hoped to retire in 2011, aged 60.

Instead, after the collapse of the pension scheme operated by United Engineering Forgings (UEF) in 2001, he has had to postpone his retirement plans by five years.

He is among up to 1300 steelworkers at the former British Steel plant who are seeking redress for the shortfall in their pensions.

The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) set up by the government in 2004 will pay Mr Fergusson up to half of his full pension, meaning he will receive £6000 a year rather than £12,000. But the FAS payments are not index-linked to inflation and will not pay a lump sum on retirement.

"I had never intended to work until I was 65. We work six days a week in here and I thought it was reasonable to want to retire at 60," he said. "I'm pretty bitter. A lot of my friends have retired at 55. If I'd worked in the local council or police force I could have retired much earlier on a full pension."

Mr Fergusson, a production manager at the plant, began paying into the pension scheme in 1971. In 2001, when it collapsed, he was paying around 7% of his salary into the scheme. While some older colleagues have received up to 80% of their pension under the FAS scheme, workers two years younger are due to receive no compensation at all.