ALMOST 50 East Lancashire households still watch TV on black and white sets.

Of those 15 are in Blackburn and five in Darwen

Ten homes in Burnley still have black and white sets as do five in Accrington and 10 across Nelson and Colne.

The figures were put out by TV Licensing to coincide with today’s 50th anniversary of the first colour TV broadcast on the BBC.

At the end of there were 6,586 black and white TV licences in force across the UK, costing £52 a year compared to the price for colour sets of £154.50.

The figure for the North West was 151 of which 49 were held in East Lancashire’s six boroughs of Blackburn with Darwen, Hyndburn, Ribble Valley, Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

The number of black and white licences has declined from 212,00 in 2000.

Tim Downs, of TV Licensing, said: “Whilst only accounting for a very small proportion it’s interesting to know that some households still like to watch their favourite shows on a black and white telly.”