YORK has fallen down the league of shame when it comes to watching TV without a licence.

New figures released today reveal that York has fallen three places down its annual table of the worst offending towns and cities.

TV Licensing caught almost 350 licence fee dodgers in the city in 2007 - a fall of over 100 on the previous year.

York now stands in 17th place in the TV licence dodgers' league for Yorkshire.

However, while York has moved down the league of shame, evaders in the city should not rest easy in 2008.

TV Licensing says it will continue its efforts to enforce the licence fee on behalf of the honest majority in 2008, with those who watch TV illegally risking prosecution, a trip to court and a fine of up to £1,000.

While fewer evaders were caught in York, nationally TV Licensing has been more effective than ever in catching people watching TV illegally.

In 2007 there was an overall rise in the number of people caught watching TV without a licence. This is due to the increasing effectiveness of TV Licensing's detection methods.

Overall, TV Licensing caught 34,250 evaders in Yorkshire - enough to fill York Minster more than nine times. The number of evaders caught in the region has increased by over 1,000 compared with 2006.