Firms have been warned to get their act together over pensions or risk a fine of up to £50,000.

And the warning, from Pudsey accountants Peel Rhodes Broadhead, has been made to firms with more than five staff on their books.

Andrew Bartles, a partner at the firm, said the clock was ticking for businesses as the deadline to provide Stakeholder pension schemes for all employees got closer.

By October next year any business employing more than five people will be forced by law to have a Stakeholder Pension scheme available to staff or will otherwise risk being fined up to £50,000.

Businesses are being advised to get the new system set up at the earliest opportunity as it is likely to be both time-consuming and costly, with high financial penalties for businesses failing to comply.

The Stakeholder Pension Scheme demands that businesses install a system whereby employees can choose to commit from as little as £20 per month or up to £3,600 of their annual salary to a supplementary pension scheme run by the employer.

Mr Bartles said: ""The great worry is that there are still a lot of small and medium-sized businesses which are unaware that they need to set this system up.''