Nearly 2,000 caught without TV licence
Thursday 28th January 2010, 7:59AM GMT.
Almost 2,000 people were caught watching television without a licence in Shropshire in 2009, it was revealed today.
Householders in Telford, where 1,114 people avoided paying the licence fee, were the biggest offenders.
Shrewsbury was next with 330 evaders, then Oswestry with 283 and Market Drayton with 94. Across the country more than 417,000 people were caught watching TV without a licence last year, TV Licensing said.
This was a rise of almost 4,000 compared to the previous year.
TV Licensing said the average evasion rate was currently just over five per cent, meaning that almost 95 per cent of properties were correctly licensed.
Mark Whitehouse, TV Licensing spokesman for the West Midlands, said: “On behalf of the vast majority of people who pay for their television licence, we work hard to catch those who attempt to cheat the system. These figures demonstrate that there really is no hiding place for television licence evaders, and we continue to be highly effective at catching them.
“We do, of course, recognise that some people can find it difficult to pay for their television licence in one go, which is why we offer a range of ways to spread the cost.
“We also offer weekly or fortnightly payment cards, which can be topped up online, by phone, by text message or at one of 22,000 PayPoint outlets around the country.”
Anyone not holding a licence risks prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.
For details on paying visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk or call 0300 790 6112.
By Lisa Rowley
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I hate to pay this theft of a charge but do until it is scrapped.
Looking now they cover all angles, if your mobile recieves tv images,computor,dvd players?,video players?, etc etc it is legal theft from joe public . However the British public have not made much of an issue about it with their MP hence why we all still have to pay it so I suppose we are to blame.
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It appears that 2000 people have made an issue of it in shropshire by not paying. Thats why it costs so much for the rest of us..
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I have a license…so should everybody else! I agree with the comments about how the fee should be either lowered or abolished, I never watch BBC, never have but I still cough up. Raise the fines and penalties for non payers and the figures will fall!
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TV licence i doubt goes up due to non payers spencer.
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It is unfair to charge the same fee to everyone when many people in the digital desert of South Shropshire and other areas can’t get the majority of the BBC’s channels unless they fork out for satellite. The BBC has also helped to kill off the post office network by stopping them selling licences. If the BBC is going to be publicly funded they should pay for it from our taxes and save the cost of this wasteful persecution of people who either can’t or won’t pay. As soon as I moved home recently a letter arrived at my old address threatening the inhabitant (and there was none) for not having a licence!
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does the money used to bring these people to justice fall from the sky??
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Then why don’t they stop encouraging people to ‘cheat’ by offering it free on iPlayer then? I’ve given up both and got some of my time on earth back.
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As I refuse to contribute to the BBC’s coffers so they can squander it on the likes of £18 million for Jonathan Ross, over three years, etc. I have given up the TV but watch catch up programs on my computer on BBCi player for free, no licence required as long as you do not watch programs as they are transmitted.
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A few years ago, you did’nt need a tv licence to operate a portable battery television, if this is still the case, why should you have to have one to recieve tv on a mobile phone.
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spencer said: does the money used to bring these people to justice fall from the sky??
No, the money is recovered via the fines non-payers are made to pay.
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Spencer @ 2
It costs so much because we’re paying the wages of fatcat bbc controllers I doubt the amount lost comes even close to their top ten earners total salaries!
It’s just another tax that unfortunately some people couldn’t afford this time round and instead took the risk
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