Plumbers are routinely charging women and pensioners huge amounts more money to carry out work - an investigation has found.
Research found elderly and female customers are being quoted an average of 53 per cent more than men for the same jobs.
The findings have been slammed by charities such as Age UK and the Fawcett Society who called the situation "an injustice".
The investigation tasked a middle-aged woman, a middle-aged man and an elderly gentleman with contacting a list of 90 companies across England to ask how much it would cost to install a new mixer tap in their kitchen.
On average the female caller was quoted £86 compared with £74 for the male caller, a difference of 16 per cent.
The older caller was quoted an average of £90 — 21 per cent more than the younger male caller.
The greatest difference between the sexes was in the north east of England, where the female caller was quoted 53 per cent more on average. Older customers also appeared most likely to be ripped off in this region, with the elderly gentleman quoted 36 per cent more.
