MORE than 360 people in Welwyn Hatfield and Potters Bar have been caught watching TV without a licence in the first 10 months of 2010.

Hundreds of licence dodgers have been prosecuted and fined up to �1,000 – having tried to avoid paying the annual �145.50 fee.

The worst offenders in our area lived in the AL7 postcode area of WGC, where more than 170 people were caught between January and October.

Another 140 lived in the AL10 postcode area of Hatfield.

The figures come as TV Licensing revealed the shocking excuses people across the country have given this year for not having the licence.

One of the most absurd included “I don’t watch the television; I just use it as a light in the dark”, while another person even told an enquiry officer: “Can you call back later? I want to finish watching the end of this TV programme.”

You can read more gems in this week’s Welwyn Hatfield Times, out today (Wednesday).