TV detector van

TV detector vans are vans which, according to the BBC, contain equipment which can detect the presence of television sets in use. The vans are operated by contractors working for the BBC, in order to enforce the television licensing system in the UK, the Channel Islands and on the Isle of Man.

When television broadcasts in the UK were resumed after a break because of the Second World War, it was decided to introduce a tax called the television licence fee in order to finance the service. When first introduced on 1 June 1946, the licence covering the monochrome-only single-channel BBC television service cost £2 (equivalent to £74.82 as of 2015). The licence was originally issued by the General Post Office (GPO), which was then the regulator of public communications within the UK. Since it was not possible to stop people without a licence from buying and operating a TV, it was necessary to find ways of enforcing the TV licence system. One of the methods used to identify TV use without a licence was TV detection equipment mounted in a van.

The first TV detector van was demonstrated on 1 February 1952. In the 1950s, the Post Office, which then administered the TV licensing system, ran converted Hillman Minx and Morris Oxford estate cars, which had large aerials attached to their roofs. Subsequently, Commers were introduced. In the 1980s, vans were supplied by Dodge and Leyland. In the 1990s, Ford Transits were introduced. In 2003, TVL launched its 10th model of detector vans. It was stated that these vans had removable branding so that they could operate covertly.

Although the operating principles of the TV detectors used in these vans were not revealed by the BBC, it was thought that they operated by detecting electromagnetic radiation given off by a TV. The most common suggested method was the detection of a signal from the TV's local oscillator.

In 2013, the Radio Times obtained a leaked internal document from the BBC giving a breakdown of prosecutions for TV licence evasion. The eighteen-page document gave a breakdown of the number of people evading the charge, as well as mentioning the number of people employed to catch those who do not pay their television licence. However, no mention was made of TV detector vans being used to catch such people, prompting media speculation over the truth of their existence. In response a BBC spokeswoman rejected claims that the vans are a hoax. "Detector vans are an important part of our enforcement of the licence fee. We don’t go into detail about how many there are or how they work as this information might be useful to people trying to evade the fee."

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