All power to Alistair Bonnington’s elbow in suing TV Licensing. It would not surprise me if their argument was that there had been some unfortunate mistake, thus suggesting that Alistair’s experience is an exception.

That would be far from the truth, as I know of others who have had similar experiences. Many years ago, my son had a flat which was not yet occupied received a letter asking him to buy a TV licence. I wrote to TV Licensing, pointing out that the flat was unoccupied, that there was no TV in the premises, but undertaking to advise TVL when the flat was occupied and when a TV was installed. Other letters followed, the final one of which threatened to visit the premises and break in. TV Licensing need a warrant to do this, but at that point, I asked my MP to deal with this. That produced an apology with the explanation that this was an “oversight”.

The bullying tactics which Alistair and I have encountered are completely unacceptable. If those who send out letters about breaking into premises do not know that this is beyond their powers, without a warrant, they should not continue to be employed. If they do know, their employment should be terminated. No doubt, those at the head of TV Licensing will plead ignorance of these actions. You may believe that, but if you do, you will also, I assume, think that there was nothing amiss with the Post Office’s Horizon system.

Douglas J. Cusine