Thousands of people in Hampshire have been caught committing a crime from the comfort of their own sofa.

New figures reveal that there were more than 5,900 people in the county caught watching television illegally in the last year without a licence.

Research from the TV Licensing agency has also exposed Southampton as the main hotspot for the offence in the county.

More than 2,100 people were caught watching TV without a licence in the city in 2010, compared with around 1,000 in Portsmouth, 130 in Eastleigh and just 60 in Winchester.

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Hampshire also had the second-highest number of offenders in the south-east.

But TV Licensing says that almost 95 per cent of households have paid out the correct fee – with a standard colour TV licence costing £145.50.

Spokesman Ian Fannon said: “It’s not fair on the vast majority of people in Hampshire who pay their licence fee for some people to watch TV without paying.

“We try to give people every chance to get on the right side of the law, but ultimately if they fail to pay, we will take action.”

The agency is contracted by the BBC to collect the licence fee and has over 30million UK addresses on its database.

At the click of a button, they can see which addresses haven’t paid the fee.

Almost 400,000 people in Britain were caught watching TV illegally in 2010, with the highest rate of offenders being found in Greater London, with more than 50,000 offenders.

When an address is detected without a licence, the household will receive reminder letters and a phone call, before receiving a visit from an enquiry office.

But if someone is caught watching TV illegally, the agency says they will face prosecution.

Daily Echo: Nearly 6,000 caught in Hampshire with no TV licence

Mr Fannon added: “We take TV licence evasion very seriously, and any householder or business caught watching TV without a licence can face a prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000.

“We do understand that some people may find it difficult to pay their licence fee in one go, which is why we offer numerous ways to spread the cost, including monthly direct debit, which can be set up very quickly online, and a weekly or monthly cash payment plan.”