BLIND people in Worcestershire are being urged to take advantage of discounted television licences.

TV Licensing has been working with the Royal National Institute of Blind (RNIB) charity to make sure anyone who is eligible is taking advantage of the concession to get the television licence at 50 per cent of the usual cost.

In Worcester, 81 blind licences are in force, as part of more than 40,000 issued nationally.

Increasing numbers of BBC shows are provided with Audio Description (AD), providing a verbal description of what is happening on screen in between the dialogue, making programmes more accessible to people with sight loss.

Audio-described programmes are available across a range of genres, with the Vikings Uncovered, Louis Theroux’s Drinking to Oblivion and the Great British Sewing Bee proving to be a hit with AD viewers on downloads this year.

A blind concession TV Licence costs £72.75 for colour, and £24.50 for a black and white television licence.

Mark Whitehouse, spokesman for TV Licensing in the West Midlands, said: “If you live with someone who is blind, they are entitled to a concessionary TV Licence. This will cover you, as well as anyone else living in your household."

Anyone living with someone who is eligible, but who already has a full fee TV Licence in their name, can transfer the licence to the name of the person who is registered as severely sight impaired and halve the cost.

To do this, fill in the form at tvlicensing.co.uk/blind or call 0300 790 0366.