Busted...
We had a mass panic in the halls of residence when I was a student as a "TV detector van" had been spotted on campus. Needless to say, no-one had bothered with a licence, as we were only there for nine months. So took our chances - The first reminders were burned in pumpkins on Halloween, the second stayed in a pile in the common room etc.

So when the site of a ford transit van with an aerial poking out of its roof appeared mass hysteria arrived, and portable TV's were removed into wardrobes and hidden with piles of pants.

Worst thing about this story is that it wasn't the TV detector van at all, it was some cretin from working lunch who'd come to do a thing about whether student fees were a good or bad idea (Now I'm showing my age!)
(libraryboy Cheer up, you could be french!, Fri 18 Jun 2010, 11:28, 2 replies)

The TV detector vans do not exist
...was also confirmed by a chap I won't name who works for the BBC.

I think the enforcement officers do exist though.
( rofl harris, Fri 18 Jun 2010, 11:47, closed)

The enforcement officers exist
...I met one when I was helping a friend move house. He came to check up on the licensing situation, got the explanation (one property empty during move) and went away satisfied with my friend's response.

He was less satisfied with my parting shot of "Of course, I don't have a licence at home and I've got lots of TVs - but you don't know who I am, do you?".
( superstoater is so mauve, you don't know what he's planning, Fri 18 Jun 2010, 12:39, closed)

The vans exist, or at least they used to
they just don't work the way they like people to think they do.

Think about it, what's going to be the easier option? Use complex electronic equipment to try and detect exactly where in a building a TV signal is coming from, what channel is being watched, and all the other crap they claim to be able to do (bearing in mind that these claims have been made in the 80s)? Or just have a database of which addresses aren't licensed, and visit them in a transit with an aerial on the roof?
(bblgoose, Sat 19 Jun 2010, 14:28, closed)

Working Lunch?
It wasn't Adrian F*cking Chiles was it?
(SonoraAeroClub "OH SWEET HELEN OF BALLS!", Fri 18 Jun 2010, 11:56, closed)