Getting old is a frightening prospect.

There're the inevitable concerns about pensions, which by current estimates will soon only stretch to a quarter of mint imperials and the occasional glass of sweet sherry at Christmas. There's the growing realisation that we'll still be caught in the nine to five rat run years after deciding that actually we'd much rather give up the day job.

However, the real fear is that some day when we least expect it, we'll wake up to discover that we are some alien being who requires the television to be turned up to decibel shaking proportions has taken over our bodies.

Sadly, the inevitable realisation that time waits for no man will be faced by more of us than ever before. Increased life expectancy and low birth rates is proving a heady combination and by 2030 there will be fewer than three people aged between 15 and 64 for every pensioner in the county. While demographic experts have been shouting about for the ageing population for some time, like an elderly aunt most of us have refused to listen and as a result society has been left vastly unprepared for the arrival of the grey army.

It's not hard to see why. Age is something that happens to other people and as 60 became the new 50 and later the new 40, getting old seemed a hangover from an earlier age. Unfortunately we have been kidding ourselves

At 33-years-old, the sight of few grey hairs may be enough to bring a small tear to the eye, but an invention called the mobilistrictor promises to destroy any delusions that my body and mind will forever be frozen somewhere around 25.

Also known as the third age suit, the mobilistrictor is the brainchild of Howard Jeffrey who realised those responsible for designing buildings, products and services for the elderly often had no real of idea of their client's day to day needs.

While he continues to work in constuction, his wife Jacqueline demonstrates the suits to interested companies and admits in terms of style it's more Heath Robinson than Gianni Versace, As I slip into the pair of blue overalls avoiding getting tangled in various connecting straps I'm forced to agree, but then the mobilistrictor was always about enlightening rather than flattering the wearer.

As the velcro strips are tightened around the ankle and knee, joint movement is immediately constricted and by the time the arm restrictions, neck brace and shoulder straps have been fixed in place there's a sense of having been put into a straitjacket with little hope of escape.

The finishing touch is a pair of socks designed to recreate the feeling of arthritis, yellow goggles to ensure blurred vision and ear guards, which given the inevitable comments about my new look, successfully muffle outside noise.

"For the first time there are more people over the age of 65 than they are under 25 and more than a third of the population is over 60," says Jacqueline, handing me some gloves which will remove any remaining dexterity from my already strapped fingers.

"The problem is that we take so many things for granted. Howard realised that people find it very difficult to put themselves in the position of someone elderly, but if they could see and feel first hand the difficulties and frustrations then things might improve.

"The mobilistrictor is not designed to recreate any particular disability or age, it's about creating empathy with the millions of people in this country who live with restricted mobility.

"Now bend down, open the fridge and get the milk."

I feel like a dog whose owner purposefully puts the treats just an inch out of reach. A couple of minutes later I manage to inch down into a less than graceful position and tease the plastic bottle from the shelf. People have made three course dinners in less time. Sadly the tea bags which are on the middle shelf of a kitchen cupboard remain where they are. At 5ft 2ins, cupboards have always been something of a problem, but years of perfecting a stretch and lift motion fail to pay off in the face of shoulder and arm restrictions. As for retrieving car keys dropped on the floor, think bambi. Only less stable.

The Jeffreys, who live in Aberford, near Leeds, have worked with everyone from Age Concern to major car companies and with the vocal baby boomer generation unlikely to settle for homes where plug sockets are out of reach and where taking a shower involves taking your life in your hands, everyone from housing developers to bathroom designers are going to come under pressure to change the way they do business.

"It's really interesting to see people's reactions to being in the suit," says Jacqueline. "They can go from being these important business people to suddenly feeling quite vulnerable. Within a matter of minutes they get a whole new perspective and they realise that often it's the little things which can make a huge difference.

"Putting plug sockets in the middle of the wall instead of near the skirting board isn't any more expensive, but if you have problems bending down it instantly makes life easier."

Trying to negotiate a corridor as a flight of steps looms in the distance, it's easy to see why people become housebound. It's not so much that you can't walk, more that every little thing takes so long, that to avoid the inevitable frustration it seems easier to do nothing at all."

Unable to clearly hear the conversations of those standing next to me without turning round to face them and struggling to get onto a stool which is too high and out of a chair which is too low, the world suddenly feels like it has been purposefully designed to humiliate the old and infirm.

There's also a creeping sense of guilt at the times I doubted my own gran's complaints about arthritic bones or sighed frustratedly when some elderly person took too long to get on a bus. However, there's little time to dwell on past wrongdoing as I need all my wits to cross a busy road.

Passers-by stare, no doubt wondering why a strange looking workman wearing slipper socks has been let out on their own, but for the most part it feels like being trapped in a bubble where the soundtrack is indistinguishable white noise. Knowing that life is now has to be conducted at a snail's pace, I duly wait for the green man; unfortunately I become distracted and by the time I realise it's my time to cross it's turned to red again.

Half a dozen or so people in suits cross the road before me, but after five minutes or so I eventually make it to the other side, but fear had it been rush hour I could have started to gather dust.

Having an active mind trapped in an ageing body is like putting a brand new engine in a car destined for the scrap yard and when I eventually make it back across the road, up the steps, along the corridor and back to where we started, it feels like I've been trapped for hours. In fact it's just 30 minutes.

"Ok, get yourself ready to return to normal," say Jacqueline. It sounds like the kind of advice they'd give astronauts, but free from the constraints of the mobilistrictor the world emerges from it's yellowing muffled haze into sharp clear focus.

Getting old remains a frightening prospect, but getting old in a world designed for those who can touch their toes and reach the top shelf is really the stuff of nightmares.