Deadline to snap up 65-Plus Guaranteed Growth Bonds is 15 May

The government-backed savings accounts pay up to 4 per cent if you lock your cash away for three years

You have less than a week to snap up one of the high-paying 65-Plus Guaranteed Growth Bonds. The government-backed savings accounts pay up to 4 per cent if you lock your cash away for three years and 2.8 per cent if you choose a one-year bond.

The deadline for buying is next Friday, 15 May, and they will be available on that date until 11.59pm online or over the phone.

When the bonds were launched in January there was a huge response with 825,000 over-65s snapping them up in the first eight weeks.

Savers feared losing out as to begin with a limited pot of up to £10bn was put aside for them. However, in February the Chancellor said that the bonds would be kept on sale until 15 May, a week after the general election.

It is expected that eventually more than a million older savers will invest and around £15bn-worth of bonds could be sold.

More information about how to apply for the bonds – minimum investment is £500, by the way – can be found at nsandi.com or you can call 0500 500 000.