Television licensing officials have launched a blitz on construction firms that permit employees to watch television during the day but do not pay for licences.
The campaign, called the Business Blacklist, will include an advertising campaign on television and a national mailshot to companies reminding them of their responsibilities.

A spokesperson for the TV Licensing authority said that more people than ever watched television programmes at work but research showed that many businesses in the construction industry did not have licences for their sets.

She said: "Often this is because everyone at work thinks someone else is responsible for buying the TV licence 鈥� but in the end, nobody does."

The spokesperson said that firms that did not have a licence for a set should expect a visit from officials.

She said: "This is a wake-up call to construction businesses. If they use or install television equipment to receive programmes they are required to have a licence."

The spokesperson added that construction firms are among half a million businesses that will be targeted.

Independent research shows that the finance directors of half the small businesses in the UK do not know whether they need a licence and two in three do not know who in their company is responsible for buying one.