A TV licensing blitz on Burnley during soccer World Cup month achieved its goal - netting a record 1,083 licence dodgers.

The yellow card warning from the TV Licensing authority that it was about to swoop during the tournament, also resulted in a scramble to post offices and a near 500 per cent increase in licence sales compared to last year.

Now offenders face hefty court fines. TV Licensing says the blitz campaign is a core component of the ongoing crackdown against licence dodgers which sees 1,000 evaders caught daily nationally.

The campaign involved an extended task force of inquiry officers, high tech detector vans and sophisticated hand held detectors which identify not only the location of he TV but also which programme is being watched.

Philip Jones, regional manger for Burnley said: "The success of the blitz has been clearly demonstrated.

"We welcome the record-breaking boost in licence sales, which forms a valuable contribution to our efforts to cut the £160 million lost every year because of licence evasion."

He said that although the month-long campaign in Burnley was now over, TV Licensing inquiry officers would continue to visit addresses of suspected licence evaders.

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