MORE than 50 people in Southampton are still watching black and white television.

Almost 50 years after the introduction of colour TV, there are still 52 black and white licences in force in the city.

They are among 9,356 homes across the country still without colour televisions, down from 212,000 in 2000 and 50,000 in 2006.

However Southampton is not in the top ten for mono licences, with London top with 2,222 and followed by Birmingham (429), Manchester (313), Glasgow (193) and Leeds (151).

Liverpool, Nottingham, Belfast, Sheffield and Bristol make up the rest of the top ten.

Martin Dyan, spokesperson for TV Licensing, London and the South East said: “It’s astounding that more than 52 households in Southampton and more than 13 in Portsmouth still watch on a black and white telly, especially now that over half of homes access TV content over the internet, on smart TVs3. "Whether you have the latest 4K TV or a black and white set from the 1970s, however, if you are watching or recording live television, then you do need a TV licence.”

Jeffrey Borinsky, a television and radio technology historian, said: “There are hundreds of collectors like myself who have many black and white TVs; some of them are purists who won't have this new-fangled colour TV in the house. We like the glow of valves, rich sound and wonderful warm smell of these old sets.

"It’s simply pure nostalgia and the joy of seeing old equipment still working in the internet age.

“Older people who grew up with black and white still love it and don't see why they should throw away their perfectly good set to get colour they don't even want. Unfortunately even the youngest black and white sets are over 20 years old and very few people now mend TVs at all. In a few more years this group will have gone to TV heaven.”