WALTHAM Forest has been named and shamed after coming fourth in a poll of London television licence dodgers.

TV Licensing's annual London League of Shame revealed that 5,732 evaders were caught throughout the borough without a TV licence in 2003.

The chart exposes the towns and cities where TV licensing has caught high numbers of evaders. London also heads the national list after recording over 37,000 dodgers last year.

Only three other London boroughs had worse records than Waltham Forest last year. They were Hackney with 6,108, Brent with 5,998 and Camden with 5,950.

Vanessa Wood, spokeswoman for TV Licensing, said: "This is perhaps the only league where it's good to be relegated.

"Evaders in Waltham Forest 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 this unwanted accolade has been awarded to their borough.

"Those who are caught risk an appearance in court, a fine of up to £1,000 and court costs as well as the price of a licence. It is a tough penalty to pay.

"We have cash schemes to allow those on income-related state benefit to pay in weekly or fortnightly cash instalments. We have also recently added a direct debit facility to our web site to make payments even easier."

For more information on the concessions available and ways to pay, call 0870 241 5590 or visit www.tvlicensing.co.uk