Thousands of final salary pension schemes could be at risk due to "excessive regulation", the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has warned.

According to the body's director general Richard Lambert, firms are now coming under increasing pressure to drop their defined benefit schemes in favour of defined contribution alternatives due to the excessive red tape involved.

Given that fund managers are now having to deal with rising life expectancy levels and turbulence in the global stock markets, he called on the government to give schemes a 'break' so as to allow them to survive this tough time.

"Pension deficits are back near the top of the corporate worry list. There is an incoming tide of complex and expensive new regulation that threatens to drive an extra nail into the coffin of many DB schemes," he explained at an event hosted by Watson Wyatt.

"Firms want to preserve their excellent schemes for employees, but the pressure on them is continuing to build."

At the same time, Age Concern has called on the government to increase the level of the basic state pension so as to address the growing problem of pensioner poverty.