Critics said the BBC should adopt a subscription model (Image: Getty)

       The BBC sending out millions of warning letters to those who have not bought TV licences has sparked fresh calls for the fee to be scrapped.

       More than 35million households were hit with TV licence enforcement letters in the last financial year - an increase of around six percent since 2020.

       Stats reported by the Telegraph show the BBC issued 36,166,582 letters between 2022 and 2023.

       People took to social media, to decry the fee and push for others to not renew theirs in protest.

       Ex-MEP Rupert Lowe said on X (formerly Twitter): “How can the BBC lecture the rest of us on the need for action on the environment when they're sending 36 million licence fee threat letters every year?

       READ MORE BBC hits households with more than 36 million TV licence fee warnings

       “How many trees is that? Outrageous waste.”

       One X user echoed Mr Lowe’s point, saying: “Do we know how many trees the BBC are felling for this? How much oil is used to produce the ink printed on these pages?”

       Many called for the scrapping of the fee and, further, the defunding of the BBC. In place of the licence fee, many replies suggested that the BBC implement a subscription model similar to Netflix or Amazon Prime.

       Others noted how, despite not owning a TV or not watching the BBC, they receive multiple warning letters from TV Licensing a year.

       The number of people evading the licence fee while potentially still needing one has also risen this year.

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       The BBC estimates that the evasion rate rose from 7.58pc in 2020/21 to 8.93pc in 2021/22. The main driver for this increase was attributed to the policy change in 2020 that removed free licences for the over-75s - a change that garnered significant criticism.

       Funds generated by the licence fee support the creation of BBC programmes and services. Those who watch live or stream the iPlayer must pay the annual cost of ￡159, or ￡53.50 for black and white TV.

       Any households that evade the payment face an enforcement letter from TV Licencing to warn households to pay if they require one or face a penalty.

       Those who are found to have streamed a programme live without a licence in the UK mainland could be fined up to ￡1,000, while those in Guernsey could face fines of up to ￡2,000, and in Jersey, ￡500.

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