Women born in the 1950s from Stroud recently attended a rally in London to voice frustration at changes to their pension age - though the protest ended up more radical than some of them were expecting.

The Stroud branch of Women Against State Pension Inequality (WASPI) hired a coach to travel to London earlier this month to join counterparts across the country who say they have been unfairly hit by the rise in the female state pension age from 60 to 66.

The rise was speeded up in 2011, leaving little time for proper financial planning, the campaigners claim.

They headed to Parliament on Wednesday, October 10 - and ended up blocking a road.

"We had no plans to stop the traffic," said Stroud coordinator Elizabeth Stanley, "but anger just boiled over and a group surged into the path of the traffic, bringing Westminster to a standstill.

"The police were very understanding - a lot of their mothers are 1950s women!"

Stroud WASPI has the backing of MP David Drew, who co-chaired a meeting with them at St Laurence Church earlier in the year.

Aside from making their voices heard outside Westminster, the group say they ran into Boris Johnson as he cycled through Green Park.

"He said he supported us," one Stroud woman remarked, "but when we said, 'Where's the money then?' he cycled off pretty sharpish!"