I HAD to smile at recent letters regarding the TV licence. For the past 31 years we have paid our licence when it was due.

Last May I paid the fee of £145.50p by debit card.

In June we received a letter telling us this was overdue. We took it as an oversight and just ignored the letter. Then another letter arrived saying the same thing.

My husband tried to get in touch by telephone, which proved to be an impossible task. We were then in receipt of several letters threatening us with being summoned to appear at court, where we may be prosecuted, and fined up to £1,000 plus legal costs.

Criminals, both of us.

I had the bank statement for May and also contacted British Telecom who were able to tell us the date and time of the phone call, when I paid our licence.

We then received a card through the door saying that an officer had visited our property, (no we were not hiding behind the blinds). The officer returned in September, a very pleasant lady, I showed her all the proof that we had paid for the licence and after several calls to the TV licensing and our bank, it was decided that the fee had been paid and the fault lay with the licensing dept.

Did we get an apology? Certainly not. Did we get compensation?

Definitely not. We have yet to receive any means of communication from these people which includes no proof of a licence number.

Janet Charlton, Crook