Littlehampton TV licence fee dodgers pay the price

TV Licensing revealed this week that 280 people were caught in the area, compared with more than 1,060 in Brighton, more than 660 in Crawley, more than 460 in Eastbourne, and more than 400 in Worthing.

There were more than 2,500 people caught watching TV illegally across West Sussex, and almost 390,000 across the UK. However, the estimated evasion rate remains steady at around five per cent, as it has done for the last five years.

Pauline Gillingham, TV Licensing spokeswoman for the south-east, said: “Television 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 Littlehampton, we are committed to tackling evasion and enforcing the law amongst the small minority who should pay, but don’t. It’s only fair.

“People are given every opportunity to pay, but, if they fail to do so and watch television illegally, we will seek a prosecution. The penalty is a fine of up to £1,000, plus court costs and a victim surcharge.”