As many as 200 of the country's biggest pension schemes, including those of giants such as British Airways, Shell and BT, are reportedly under a deficit which amounts to over a whopping 100 Billion Pounds. Although these schemes have been in deficit for the past few years, this is the first time that the figure has actually grown to a triple-number.

Millions of people are currently members of the lucrative and attractive final salary schemes, which payout an yearly pension based on a member's last drawn salary figure.

According to experts, the deficit would now continue to grow, and it has been predicted that a major company would be pushed into bankruptcy solely on the back of its pension deficit over the next year.

"Companies are being dwarfed by these deficits and yet the authorities are just burying their heads in the sand", said Ros Altmann, a pension’s expert.

The 200 schemes that have been taken into account have around 10-15 million members, including current employees, former employees and those who have already retired.

Deficit of the country's 200 largest pension schemes, for the current month, has been pegged at 103 Billion Pounds, a substantial rise from the 88 Billion Pounds figure recorded for the previous month, as has been confirmed by figures reported by Aon Consulting.