Colchester tops north Essex list of TV licensing evaders

9:00am Friday 20th July 2012 in News

Colchester tops north Essex list of TV licensing evaders Colchester tops north Essex list of TV licensing evaders

MORE than 600 people have been caught watching TV in Colchester without a licence in the first six months of the year.

Fresh figures released today show 609 people were caught in the town by inspectors between January and June.

It means Colchester, ranked 60th in the UK, has the most evaders in north Essex.
In Clacton, 400 people were found out, with 100 in Harwich.

TV Licensing inspectors also caught 293 people in Chelmsford, 150 in Braintree and 50 in Maldon.

They are among more than 204,000 people caught across the UK during the first half of this year.

Victoria Sykes, TV Licensing spokesperson, said the figures show only a minority of people do not pay their licence fee.

Anyone who does not pay a TV licence risks being prosecuted and having to pay a fine of up to £1,000.

A colour TV licence costs £145.50 and is required for anyone watching or recording TV programmes, whether they are using a TV set or a computer.

To buy a licence, go to tvlicensing.co.uk or call 0300 790 6112.

Comments(4)

concernedrefuture says...
10:25am Fri 20 Jul 12

It would be interesting to find out exactly how many of the fines imposed are actually paid. I have read recently that an appeal results in a 5% success rate while a 'personal' appeal results in 33% success rate. Seems as if there is a dearth of sanctions available to ensure fines are paid. Much thought for improvement here methinks.

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Say It As It Is OK? says...
11:04am Fri 20 Jul 12

When we were away from home for 8 weeks last year our TV licence lapsed and I didn't renew it until our return to the UK. I contacted them and asked for the new licence to start a full month after the old one lapsed. The hassle caused by TV Licencing in demanding the licence be backdated to when the last one expired was nothing short of criminal and oppressive behaviour with a barrage of threatening and rude letters that I'm sure are designed to intimidate and frighten people. Disgraceful behaviour.

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Im_Like_HELLO says...
3:59pm Fri 20 Jul 12

Well what else do you pay your TV licence for apart from paying people to spend their time writing these threatening letters?

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Wotchkeeper says...
1:58pm Sat 21 Jul 12

Victoria Sykes is no more from "TV Licensing" than I am. She works for PR firm Fishburn Hedges:
http://www.fishburn-
hedges.co.uk/about-u
s/people/victoria-sy
kes

Just one way in which the BBC (which is the Television Licensing Authority) lies to us.

Nor is it correct to say "A colour TV licence ... is required for anyone watching or recording TV programmes, whether they are using a TV set or a computer". You can watch catch-up TV (iPlayer, 4oD etc) as much as you like without needing a licence. A licence is only needed for LIVE broadcasts.

Get the facts here:

http://watchkeepersl
og.blogspot.co.uk/20
11/07/do-you-need-tv
-licence.html

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