A University of California study found that, although there was a slight drop in the importance placed on sexual attraction after the age of 60, it did not dip further after that.

Their report, which analysed data from people aged 20-95, found that the need for cosy companionship was no greater in the older daters than the younger ones.

Psychologists said the study separated a person's needs from the length of their relationship by relying on data from dating websites.

"Contrary to the stereotype, older adults still value sexual attraction quite highly," the researchers said.

"There is no consistent evidence that communication or companionate characteristics are valued more at older ages."

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For their study, the academics analysed data from nearly 5,500 men and women who had signed up to the online dating site eHarmony.

The site gives users a mandatory questionnaire that scrutinizes their characteristics and goals, by asking them to rate the importance of various items on a scale.

The researchers split the data into four groups: 'young' users under age 40, 'middle-aged' users aged 40-59, 'young-old' users age 60-74 and 'old-old' users age 75 and above.

While there was evidence that "users approaching age 60 and older valued sexual attraction less than younger users...there were no significant age differences among the users older than 60, and they still valued sexual attraction highly", the researchers wrote in the journal Psychology Aging.

"Overall, young-old and old-old users had similar preferences in this sample."

The researchers said that while older adults tend to have longer relationships, which in turn are associated with "declining sexual, passionate love and more friendship-based, companionate love", by studying new relationships they were able to analyse the influence of "age separate from relationship duration".

"Comparing younger and older adults seeking a new relationship provides a more equivalent starting point than comparing long-time married couples to newlyweds," they wrote.

Josephine Menkin, one of the study's authors, added that often people resist starting a new relationship in later life because of certain "barriers", such as concerns about upsetting adult children.

"It is possible that older adults who are using online dating are especially highly motivated to re-partner, and sexual interest may be one of the motivating factors that encourages people to actively seek a partner online, instead of just seeing if they happen to meet someone in person," she said.

Less surprisingly, the researchers found that across the age groups, men consistently valued sexual attraction slightly more than women, with ladies placing a greater relative emphasis on companionship than the chaps.

Additionally, they found that divorcees were more concerned with feeling the spark of desire with a new partner than the daters who had never been married.

It comes after other research showed British pensioners are becoming more and more adventurous when it comes to their bucket lists - with travelling the globe topping wish lists.