PEOPLE living in a hilly rural area have protested that their television viewing has been seriously spoiled over the festive season by blurred reception.

There have been complaints for many years about unclear pictures received in homes in and around Middleton-in-Teesdale, near Barnard Castle.

But retired bank manager Alan Thompson has said the problem was particularly bad around Christmas.

He said BBC1 and ITV1 could be received normally, but BBC2 and Channel 4 were often blurred, and Five could not be seen at all.

Mr Thompson said: "I think it scandalous that in this age of huge technical innovation there are hundreds of families in this area who can't get the five basic TV channels at all times.

"We all pay the full TV licence fee, but don't receive the full service.

I believe we should be allowed to pay a reduced fee. The problem seems even worse in the festive season."

A booster was put on a transmitter in Romaldkirk, near Barnard Castle, some years ago in an effort to solve the problem, but Mr Thompson said this was not working as well as intended.

He sent a text message to the BBC yesterday protesting about the service, but received a reply saying that no one was available to deal with it at that time.

He said: "I have a Sky box for sports programmes, but it seems ridiculous that while I can watch a live football match on one set, my wife, Margaret, can't watch some of her favourite programmes on BBC2 on our other set."

Stan Walinets, of Mickleton, said he and his neighbours had the same problem.

"It is very annoying when you can't watch your favourite programmes over Christmas," he said. "A TV repair man told me he had many calls from customers with the same complaint."

Teesdale District Council sent a formal complaint to the BBC some years ago about poor reception in the upper dale, and was told attempts were being made to improve it.

A BBC spokesman in London said: "A natural phenomenon affected the weather and caused reception in the area to be poorer than normal for several days.

"We are sorry for the way viewers in the area were affected.

"A note will be made of any complaints made about it."