Thousands are caught watching TV illegally.

Thousands of county residents have been caught watching TV without a licence, latest figures show.

This includes more than 400 people in Lincoln, 520 in Grimsby, and 500 in Scunthorpe.

The figures were revealed by TV Licensing and cover the first six months of this year. They also showed that, in total, more than 214,000 people have been caught evading TV licensing fees across the UK.

Chris Weaver, 21, a coffee shop duty manager living in Lincoln’s Steep Hill, says that, to him, paying for a TV licence is second nature.

He said: “I’ve never really thought about not paying. It’s an automatic reflex, just like paying council tax.

“It’s definitely worth the small amount of money for the peace of mind of not getting caught, even if you don’t watch that much TV.”

Mr Weaver said he has always had a licence since owning a home and prefers to pay for it in monthly instalments.

He said: “I don’t even notice it coming out. It’s just an added expense I don’t think about. It’s pretty easy to pay for it these days, so I don’t think the recession is really a good enough excuse for evasion.”

Meanwhile, Hannah Halfpenny, 20, an assistant manager at Lincoln’s branch of Kodak, believes better quality programming could encourage more people to buy a TV licence.

She said: “I don’t own a TV, because there’s never anything on that I want to watch.

“I think if there was a wider selection of high-quality programming, then people would be more inclined to pay for their licence.

“People who refuse to pay should stop watching TV. They’ll end up getting caught in the end.

“There’s not really any other way around it. With the technology they have today and surveillance the way it is, if you don’t pay they’re going to catch you.”

Today’s price for a colour TV licence is £142.50. TV licences are an essential requirement for anybody watching or recording TV programmes as they are broadcast on a TV set, computer, or any other equipment.

Anyone not holding a TV licence risks prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.

Mark Whitehouse, TV Licensing spokesperson for East Anglia, said: “These figures show our continued effectiveness in catching people who watch TV illegally and therefore penalise the honest majority who do pay.

“While evaders come from all income groups, we understand that, in the current economic climate, some people may find it difficult to pay their licence fee in one go. This is why we provide numerous ways to spread the cost, including monthly Direct Debit and a weekly cash payment plan.”

The average TV licence evasion rate is currently just over five per cent, meaning almost 95 per cent of properties across the UK are correctly licensed.