A BLITZ on television licence dodgers in Bolton has landed 80 offenders in court.

The men and women, many of whom were caught while watching this year's men's Wimbledon tennis singles final, will face fines of up to £1,000 when they appear before Bolton magistrates and be ordered to pay to watch their TV in future.

The prosecutions follow a secret summer campaign which saw licensing officers taking to the streets without issuing advanced warnings. Some even used their own cars instead of detector vans.

They had a busy afternoon when they targeted Bolton during the tennis final in July and caught many people watching Ivanesevic lift the trophy.

Mark Aulsebrook, TV licensing spokesman, said the number of people facing court showed people will not get away with paying nothing.

He said: "We are always visiting in your area, so remaining cheats should be aware that next time it could be them.

"We have proved that those who break the law really do have to face the consequences. It is just not worth the risk."

The evaders will appear before Bolton magistrates next Monday.

It is believed that one in 10 television owners in the town does not have a licence and it was one of only a few places to have been singled out for the hard hitting, secret approach.

In Barrow and Huddersfield, the other two, the number of offenders caught was increased by a third.

Figures show that between March 2000 and February 2001 the number of people prosecuted nationwide rose by more than 70pc.

Licensing officers visit about 55 addresses every working day, catching one person an hour who has not paid the £109.

People are being told there is no excuse not to pay with many methods available, including direct debit, by post, credit card, or at any post office.