Falmouth residents who are blind or severely sight impaired, or live with someone who is, should make sure they aren’t missing out on a 50 per cent TV Licence reduction.

TV Licensing has been working with Cornish-based charity iSightCornwall to make sure anyone who is eligible to receive the concession is aware and takes advantage of the reduced fee.

There are 32 blind licences in force across Falmouth and Hayle, while nationally, the number of blind concessionary licences has risen by 4 per cent this year, with 41,392 such licences compared to 39,700 last year.

Increasing numbers of BBC shows are provided with audio description (AD), with over 20 per cent of BBC output now audio-described – above the target of 10 per cent set for broadcasters by Ofcom. The service on digital TV, which allows you to hear a verbal description of what is happening on screen in between the dialogue, makes programmes more accessible to people with sight loss.

A blind concession TV Licence costs £72.75 for colour and £24.50 for black and white.

Richard Chapman, spokesperson for TV Licensing in the south west, said: “If you live with someone who is blind, they are entitled to a concessionary TV Licence, which is half the price of a full fee licence. This will cover you, as well as anyone else living in your household.”

Terri Rosnau-Ward, chief executive of iSightCornwall, said: "Television continues to play an important role in the lives of millions of people living with sight loss. Recent technological advancements have made television viewing more accessible than ever before and we encourage anyone who is severely sight impaired to take full advantage of the 50 per cent reduction in the cost of their TV licence”.

If you live with someone who is eligible and already have a full fee TV Licence in your name, you can transfer the licence to the name of the person who registered as severely sight impaired by filling in a form at tvlicensing.co.uk/blind or contact TV Licensing on 0300 790 0366.

Those who use a digital box used to produce sound only, do not require a TV Licence provided it cannot display TV programmes. Anyone who does not watch or record live TV on any device can let TV Licensing know by completing an online declaration at tvlicensing.co.uk/nln.

Anyone affected by sight loss can get TV Licensing information by email or in Braille, large print or audio by calling 0300 555 0300. An audio podcast about the concession is available online at audioboo.com/tvlicensing