AN MP has thrown his weight behind a women's group fighting for pension equality.

Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock has submitted a petition to parliament on behalf of Waspi.

Women Against State Pension Inequality has fought a high-profile campaign against changes to pensions that unfairly affect women.

The document was signed by 373 local people as part of a mass petition of parliament on Tuesday evening.

Changes made by the Coalition and Conservative governments have resulted in tens of thousands of women across the UK losing pension money they believed they were entitled to.

Speaking after the presentation of the petition, Mr Woodcock said: "These unfair pension changes affect so many women in Barrow and Furness and I was pleased to be able to present the petition and make their voices heard in parliament.

"I want to pay tribute to local campaigners who have raised this issue on behalf of all the women who have lost out."

One of the founders of the Furness branch of Waspi, Cath Williams, spoke about the raised profile the action group now has.

She said: "Even though the government says they are not going to do anything, there are a lot of people in parliament pushing for it."

One of the most high-profile politicians campaigning for pension equality is Baroness Ros Altmann. She has been highly critical of the government's refusal to talk about the issue.

The changes to pensions were made to bring the state retirement age of women up to the same as men.

The rollout of the scheme came under intense fire for failing to properly notify women, many of whom did not have the opportunity to change their financial plans for retirement.

Mrs Williams referred to women in her Waspi branch who are being forced back into work, as they are unable to draw their pension for years to come.

Mr Woodcock has called for prime minster Theresa May to act on her promise to tackle social inequality.

He said: "It is now up to the government to act. The new prime minister has said she cares about tackling social injustice, if she is serious then she should listen to the Waspi campaign and correct this clear injustice."

Mrs Williams said Mr Woodcock has agreed to attend their next Waspi meeting, to hear the thoughts of its members.

Although dissatisfied with Mr Woodcock's support of their group in the past few months, she said the group was looking forward to quizzing their MP.

She said: "He's supposed to be coming to the next meeting in October.

"He does keep saying in correspondence he's right behind us."