Figures released yesterday by TV Licensing reveal the number of UK families watching on black and white TVs has dropped a further 12 per cent in the past year, with fewer than 12,000 sets now in use nationwide.

Fifteen people in Watford still view black and white TV as do 17 in St Albans.

Other towns in Hertfordshire have fewer black and white viewers with 11 in Hemel Hempstead, eight in Borehamwood, eight in Stevenage and seven in Welwyn Garden City.

With advances in technology, the demand for black and white licences has been in steady decline for years.

At the turn of the millennium there were 212,000 black and white licences issued, but by 2003 that number had shrunk to 93,000.

Just three years later, in 2006, the number was less than 50,000 and today just 11,550 black and white licences remain in force across the UK.

Despite it being nearly 48 years since colour transmissions began, digital switchover and the recent Christmas seasonal surge of television, laptop, tablet and smartphone sales, it seems there are still some nostalgic UK homes firmly attached to their trusty black and white TV sets.

Emma Cowlard, spokesperson for TV Licensing, said: “The figures show, even in the digital age, more than 11,000 homes still watch their favourite programmes on black and white televisions.

“We may be on the brink of losing black and white sets to the history books, but older technology will always be replaced by exciting new ways of watching live. It’s important that no matter how you watch live TV, whether on a black and white set, or online, you’re correctly licensed to do so.”

Iain Logie Baird, Associate Curator at the National Media Museum, Bradford, and grandson of television inventor John Logie Baird, added: “Despite over 25 million people opting for a colour TV Licence in the UK, it may be some time before the black and white television disappears completely from our living rooms.

“The National Media Museum has hundreds of black and white television sets in its collection and there will always be a small group of people who prefer monochrome images, collect vintage sets or just don't want to throw away a working piece of technology.”