FORTY-ONE licence evaders were fined a total of £2,960 by Bolton Magistrates after being caught watching television illegally.

The dodgers were also ordered to pay a total of £1,805 in costs when TV Licensing prosecuted them the string of prosecutions were dealt with this week.

And, if they want to continue watching TV without facing further court cases and more fines, the evaders still have to buy a licence.

Impressive

Mick Hill, director of TV Licensing, said: "Trying to evade is just not worth it because dodgers will be caught and face prosecution and hefty fines.

"Every day we catch an average of 1,000 dodgers and we predict our results will be even more impressive now that we have introduced new technology to reinforce our operations against evasion.

"Our new hand-held detectors can pinpoint a television in use from up to 30 metres away by employing ultra-sensitive technology to pick up radiation from TV screens.

"They're particularly important in the campaign against evaders living in blocks of flats and properties of that kind."

The maximum fine for evasion is £1,000 and dodging accounts for £160 million in lost revenue annually.

At Bolton Magistrates Court, 13 people pleaded guilty to breaking the Wireless and Telegraphy Act 1949 by using a television receiver without an appropriate licence. A further 28 were convicted of the same offence.

Mick Hill commented: "We would prefer people to buy a licence and not end up in court.

"We have a database with 26 million addresses on it, which means we are well aware which homes and businesses are licensed.

"Those which aren't will be targeted by our detection technology and can expect a knock on the door from one of our enquiry officers."

For more information on ways to pay your TV licence, call 0990 763763.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.