Shropshire TV licence evaders caught ‘out of hours’

Early morning, evening and at weekends are when many half of all evaders are found, according to TV Licensing, including 51 in Shropshire.

A total of 83 people were caught in Shrewsbury in June – 61 per cent of which were discovered ‘out of hours’.

TV Licensing Enquiry Officers focus their efforts on unlicensed addresses when occupants are most likely to be at home.

Last month, more than 11,000 evaders across the UK were caught watching live TV or BBC programmes on iPlayer without a licence before 9am, after 5pm or at weekends.

In a recent survey, almost a third of all adults thought it unlikely that anyone watching live TV without a licence would be caught, yet in June alone more than 22,000 were found without a licence.

Mark Whitehouse, spokesman for TV Licensing in the West Midlands, said: “Our officers knock on over 10,000 doors a day – one every five seconds. In 2016/17, we caught around 256,600 evaders from all walks of life.

“Officers can explain payment plans which spread the cost of a licence. We’d always rather help people pay than prosecute and encourage them to contact us for help and advice.”

“We offer a variety of ways to spread the cost, including a weekly cash payment plan, a savings card or a monthly Direct Debit scheme, which can be set up very quickly online or over the phone. We also work with almost 500 money advice and community organisations across the UK to offer information on when a licence is needed, ways to pay and concessions.”

Ron Hand, TV Licensing Field Operations Lead, said: “In order to be fair to the majority who do pay for their licence, we’ll continue to pursue the small minority of people who do not pay.”

We make sure some of our visits are scheduled when popular programmes such EastEnders are aired or football matches are screened, outside normal working hours.”

Enquiry officers focus their visits on unlicensed addresses where occupants have ignored previous attempts to make contact.

TV Licensing continually refines the information used to select the time of visits, in order to effectively target unlicensed households.

The vast majority of first time evaders are not prosecuted if they buy a licence before their case is reviewed by the courts. Around 99 per cent of TV Licensing cases taken to court in England and Wales result in a conviction.

For more information about when a licence is needed, visit tvlicensing.co.uk/info