WATFORD has dropped one place in a league table of the county's worst television licence evaders.

TV Licensing's "league of shame" exposes the towns and cities where high numbers of licence evaders have been caught.

A total of 4,197 evaders were caught throughout Hertfordshire in 2004, with Stevenage topping the list with 637.

Watford came in second with 509. Sophie Griffiths, spokesperson for TV Licensing South East said: "This is probably the only league where being relegated is actually good news.

"However licence dodgers have still let the side down and are the biggest losers, as they face stiff penalties if caught without a valid TV licence.

"Those who are caught risk an appearance in court, a fine of up to £1,000, and court costs. In addition to this, they still need to pay £121 for a licence.

"Having said that, we always prefer people to pay for a TV licence rather than be prosecuted so we are urging all local evaders to buy a licence before they get caught."

Ms Griffiths said there were schemes for people who genuinely struggle to pay for the licence in one lump sum.

She said: "For these people we have cash schemes, which allow those on income-related state benefits to pay in weekly or fortnightly cash instalments. We have also recently updated our website to make payments even easier."

For information about TV licences, telephone 0870 241 5590 or visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk/dd to set up a Direct Debit.