NEARLY a quarter of military veterans living in Northumberland are over 80 years old, census data shows.

The 2021 census was the first to ask people about whether they had previously served in the armed forces.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show there were 15,578 veterans living in Northumberland in March 2021 – around 3,675 (23.6 per cent) of whom were over the age of 80.

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The census shows 3.8 per cent of people in England and Wales aged 16 and over had served in the armed forces, or 1.9 million people.

At the time of the census, 31.8 per cent of veterans were aged 80 or over – compared to just 5.1 per cent of the non-veteran population.

The high proportion of octogenarian veterans is a product of the War Service and National Service that ran in the UK between 1939 and 1960, the ONS said.

National Service was a system of conscription that required healthy males aged 17 to 21 to serve in the armed forces for between 18 months and two years.

It was phased out in the late 1950s, meaning the last surviving people to have taken part in National Service will now be well into their 80s.

There were around 665 veterans over 90 years old in Northumberland as of March 2021.

Rich Pereira, head of demography at the ONS, said: “Today’s data gives a greater understanding of our veteran armed forces community."

He added that the figures would be "crucial" for support and services for veterans.