10:45am Monday 21st July 2008
By Andy Carswell
ALMOST 200 people have been caught watching TV without a licence in High Wycombe in the last six months.
It means the number of licence dodgers in Wycombe is the third highest in the county.
Figures released by TV Licensing today showed 175 evaders were caught in High Wycombe in the first six months of the year, with only Aylesbury and Milton Keynes having more residents caught dodging payments.
The statistics showed 1,147 people in Milton Keynes avoided paying - making the town the worst for non-payments in the whole of the south east.
Nationally, nearly a quarter of a million people have been caught watching TV without a licence since the start of the year.
Joanna Pearce, TV Licensing spokesman, said: "TV Licensing's powerful database shows precisely which properties are unlicensed, meaning enquiry officers can target addresses where they suspect people are watching TV illegally.
"But we would much rather people buy a licence rather than risk prosecution and a fine."
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.bucksfreepress.co.uk