MINISTER for Culture Ed Vaizey has backed calls for compensation over Oxfordshire TV signalling problems.

Analogue and digital viewers across the county are unable to watch certain channels because of ongoing work at the Oxford transmitter in Beckley.

The Wantage MP has branded the situation ‘unacceptable’ and vowed to take up viewers’ calls for a TV licence fee rebate.

But last night the TV Licensing agency said viewers – who are set to miss the World Cup – will not get money back.

Reception problems started in February when engineers switched to a weaker reserve antenna as part of work on the country’s switch to digital TV.

On May 13, a fire damaged the main antenna ‘beyond repair’.

The company responsible for the antenna network, Arqiva, says a replacement will not be ready until September.

Mr Vaizey has now demanded urgent talks with Digital UK, the agency responsible for the digital switchover.

The Minister said compensation might be within the discretion of Digital UK or the BBC.

And he pledged to raise the issue with both organisations.

In the 2008/2009 financial year, UK viewers paid out £3.5bn in licence fees, and last night county residents were demanding a rebate.

George King, 68, from Middleton Cheney, near Banbury, said: “I want a six-month rebate for the time I couldn’t get a picture.

“From 1pm until 8pm I am not getting a picture on BBC One, Two and ITV. If I had a pair of shoes that fell in half I’d take them back to the shop – what is the difference?”

Angela Polly, 63, from Grove, is not receiving ITV, Channel Four or Channel Five.

“If you don’t get the full service you shouldn’t pay the full licence,” she said.

Eighty per cent of voters on an oxfordmail.co.uk poll last night said county households should receive a rebate because of the debacle.

Jeff Nesbitt, 65, has had signal problems in two houses, having moved from Chiltern to Wantage.

“The situation is still the same if not worse,” he said.

A Digital UK spokesman said compensation was not available to affected viewers and the agency’s responsibility was to ensure the digital switchover happened successfully.

A TV Licensing spokesperson said: "A TV licence is needed to watch or record programmes on any channel at the same time as they are on TV and this remains the case if the quality of the signal is affected.

"Therefore, in this case, viewers in Oxford are not eligible for a refund.

"We would advise anyone experiencing reception problems to contact the BBC's Reception Advice line on 0370 010 0123 or visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception."

cburatta@oxfordmail.co.uk

  • Anyone experiencing problems with their television reception problems should call the BBC’s advice line on 0370 010 0123.