The BBC’s obsession with young people leaves pensioners out in the cold

The prospect of an army of oldies having their furniture removed by bailiffs so they can legally watch ‘EastEnders’ or ‘Casualty’ would be a PR disaster, writes Janet Street-Porter

Those who still won’t pay for their licences could face fines – the maximum is £1,000 (Getty)

The battle between pensioners and the BBC over the withdrawal of free licences for the over-75s, unless they receive pension credit, has the makings of a PR disaster for the broadcaster.

A campaign is now urging pensioners of all ages to cancel their direct debits and then pay the licence fee in back-dated monthly cheques which could cause a clerical nightmare and take longer to process.

Thousands of pensioners are being encouraged to register for pension credit so the BBC will receive less income than they expected anyway. There’s another PR issue – the government wants to replace non-payment of the licence fee (currently a criminal offence) with a civil penalty (like a parking ticket) – which could be outsourced to debt collectors.

The prospect of an army of oldies having their furniture removed by bailiffs so they can legally watch Eastenders or Casualty is something that the BBC bigwigs might want to think about.

Those who still won’t pay for their licences could face fines – the maximum is £1,000, but the average imposed in 2018 was £176, which is still a considerable sum for a pensioner.

The BBC is so determined to entrap the “youth” they seem to have forgotten their most loyal audience. I know this mess isn’t of their making, and that the government should have continued to fund the free licences, but a compromise will have to be reached.