TV licence dodgers shut down

More than 4200 people were caught watching TV without a valid licence in Edinburgh in 2011, TV Licensing has revealed.

This compares to more than 17,400 in Glasgow, more than 2400 in Aberdeen and more than 2100 in Dundee. There were more than 62,000 people caught watching TV illegally across Scotland and almost 390,000 across the UK.

However, the estimated evasion rate remains steady at around 5 per cent, as it has done for the last five years.

This means the vast majority of people, or 19 out of 20 households and businesses, were correctly licensed.

Fergus Reid, TV Licensing spokesperson for Scotland, said: “TV viewing is as popular as ever, with the percentage of households who have a television set at 96.7 per cent, and it’s our role to make sure everyone is aware of when they need to be covered by a licence.

“On behalf of licence fee payers in Edinburgh, we are committed to tackling evasion and enforcing the law. People are given every opportunity to pay, but, if they fail to do so and watch TV illegally, we will seek a prosecution.”