Oxford has shot up a league table of TV Licence dodgers, with 1,489 evaders caught out last year.

After coming 13th in TV Licensing's League of Shame for the South East the previous year, it is now in fifth place.

The 36 per cent increase in the number of those caught represents the most dramatic rise of all the towns and cities in the top 10.

Other places of a similar or smaller size listed in the top 10 had far fewer licence evaders than Oxford. In Dagenham, 956 were caught watching without a licence, while 821 people were caught in Reading.

In Oxfordshire overall, 5,914 people were tracked down.

TV Licence detector teams used covert vans for the first time last year, fitted with state-of-the-art technology, including handheld scanners.

Another reason for Oxford's high figure is a recruitment drive launched last year when the city was exposed as one of the worst for licence evasion. The number of detection officers working in Oxford has trebled, with detector teams able to knock on an extra 750 doors each week.

They only visit properties where there is no record of a licence on their database.

TV Licensing spokesman Vanessa Wood said: "This is perhaps the only league where it's good to be relegated. Evaders in Oxford are the biggest losers because they have been caught breaking the law.

"It is unfair to the honest majority of people who are properly licensed that these unwanted accolades have been awarded to these places.

"Those who are caught risk an appearance in court, a fine of up to £1,000 and court costs, as well as the cost of the licence."