Co-operative Bank has been ordered to pay compensation to a man they turned down for a mortgage extension, on the grounds he was too old.

Peter Day was 59 at the time he requested a mortgage extension by five years and was close to completing payments on his mortgage.

However, despite having three final pensions’ salaries to cover him to retirement, Co-Op turned down his applications.

The lender has now been ordered to pay Mr Day £2,000 compensation for age discrimination.

Speaking about the declined mortgage request Mr Day said:”It was clearly age discrimination as paying the money back and my current financial position were clearly no problem.”

Co-Op has said they have since changed the policy and extended the maximum age limit of repayments from 68 to 75.

Since the Mortgage Market Review in 2014, lenders are now required to ask people requesting mortgages more questions when judging mortgage applications as well as installing tougher affordability requirements.

The Ombudsman has said in their judgement that in the case of Mr Day, he was unfairly treated by the lender. Co-Op has been ordered to pay Mr Day £500 in compensation plus an extra £1,389 in costs for Mr Day to transfer his mortgage to another lender.