Older people whose children have left home and who have paid off their mortgages are rediscovering the joy of driving motorbikes, according to motoring organisation Bovag.

Sector organisation Bovag says 25% of motor bikes are now owned by someone over the age of 55 and there has been a 90% rise in sales to the over-55s in the past six years.

The increase is thought to be due to men who had a motorbike in their youth rediscovering their hobby.

‘Their children have left home, they’ve paid off the mortgage, they’ve got savings and lots of free time,’ sBovag’s Tom Huyskens told broadcaster Nos. ‘They can breathe new life into an old passion.’