DOZENS of students in Warrington have been visited by TV licence enforcement officers during a crackdown.

A total of 66 young people aged between 18 and 25 in the town were interviewed after allegedly watching live television or the BBC iPlayer without a valid licence.

These figures have been released by TV Licensing to coincide with the start of the new university term.

Those in households watching live TV or BBC programmes without a licence can be prosecuted and fined up to £1,000.

This includes streaming on laptops, tablet computers or smartphones.

Students living in halls of residence need to be covered by separate licences if they watch live TV in their rooms, as do those in shared houses who have separate tenancy agreements.

TV Licensing makes more than 7,500 enforcement visits across the UK a day, although the majority of first-time offenders are not prosecuted if they buy a £154.50 licence before their court date.

Tim Downs from TV Licensing said: “Students will now have settled into their new term, and every year myths circulate around about when you do and don’t need a licence.

“Most students own at least one device capable of showing live TV or watching BBC iPlayer, such as a laptop, smartphone or tablet computer.

“It’s important they know the law around being correctly licensed.”