MORE than two dozen television licence evaders and non-payers were dealt with in a single session at Swindon Magistrates' Court.

The 25, like the 30 who appeared in a single day earlier this month, were caught by officials from TV Licensing, the Government authority in charge of collecting the £116 fee.

The organisation boasts that its detection equipment is more technologically advanced than ever.

TV Licensing carries out regular concentrated operations on an area-by-area basis.

Offenders at yesterday's hearing were generally fined about £100 and ordered to pay toward the cost of the investigation.

The maximum fine, however, is £1,000.

TV Licensing spokeswoman, Sara Powell, said the authority had a database of more than 28 million addresses nationwide, and launched a new fleet of vans last month.

She added: "We prefer people to buy a licence rather than face prosecution, and for people who would prefer not to buy the licence in one lump sum there are many different ways to pay.

"TV Licensing caught over 400,000 offenders in the UK last year."

Full details of the various ways of spreading the cost of buying a TV licence, along with information about various exemption schemes, can be obtained on 0870 241 5590 or at www.tvlicensing.co.uk.