The number of people evading the TV licence fee has fallen but non-payment still costs each law-abiding television viewer £6 a year, the National Audit Office (NAO) says today.

According to the watchdog, the percentage of people evading the charge has dropped to between 5.2 per cent and 7.6 per cent - although the total bill for non payment is still in the region of £141 million a year.

TV licences, which are used to fund public service broadcasting and the BBC, were issued to 23 million households last year.

A net income of £2,371 million was generated although £132 million was spent collecting the revenue.

According to the NAO, the number of people paying the licence fee by direct debit has increased from 15 per cent to 49 per cent - a factor thought to be behind the drop in evasion rates.

Sir John Bourn, the head of the NAO, said: "Television licence fee evasion affects all licence payers. Even on conservative estimates the cost of evasion represents approximately £141 million a year, or £6 for each licence payer, that would otherwise be available to the BBC."