Record 64,000 dodge paying TV licence

The number of Londoners caught with no TV licence has soared after an "evasion blitz" during top sporting events. TV Licensing, the body responsible for collecting the £121 fee, timed their raids when millions of people would be glued to their sets.

Last year a record 64,874 people in London were caught licence dodging, up 72 per cent from the previous year's figure of 37,298. Three clampdowns were launched during Euro 2004, the Olympics and Wimbledon.

London topped the national "league of shame" for the third year running, with Newham the worst borough, followed by Lambeth and Ealing. More evaders were caught in Newham alone than in entire cities such as Leeds and Nottingham.

The figure for London was higher than for Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.