NEARLY 200 young people across Gwent were caught watching live TV or streaming services without a valid television license between September 2018 and August this year.

New figures have shown TV licence officers spoke to 76 people in Newport aged between 18 and 25 over the 12 months, along with 55 in Blaenau Gwent, 25 in Pontypool and 22 in Caerphilly. In Monmouthshire, just eight were interviewed by officers.

Across the UK as a whole, officers spoke to 1,375 young people over the year.

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Licence-dodgers risk prosecution and a fine of up to £1,000 if they are caught without a licence. Although unlicensed addresses where occupants ignore attempts to make contact will receive a visit – but not all approaches lead to prosecution and most first-time offenders will not be prosecuted if they buy a licence before their court date.

Students living away from home in halls or shared accommodation still need to be covered by a TV licence if they want watch, record and download BBC programmes. A licence is also needed to watch programmes through an online service, such as Amazon Prime or Now TV, too.

This applies to any device – for example, a laptop, computer, tablet, mobile or games console.

Students in shared houses normally need one licence to cover the whole property - but if there are separate tenancy agreements, individual licences will be needed.

A refund can be sought if students don’t need their licence for a full 12 month - with many university tenancies only last nine months.

A standard TV licence costs £154.50. Visit tvl.co.uk/uni to find out more.