Householders in Dumbarton and Vale of Leven whose TV licences are due to expire at the end of March can save money if they renew on time.

That's because the colour licence will jump by £4 to £154.50 on April 1 and the black and white licence will rise by £1.50 to £52.

TV Licensing says its database of more than 32 million addresses shows that 300,000 households across the UK have licences that expire on March 31, so can save £4 by renewing promptly before 1 April.

The Government is responsible for setting the level of the licence fee, and in 2016 announced that it would rise in line with inflation for five years from April 1 2017. The 2019 licence fee increase was announced on February 1 this year.

TV Licensing says the new fee amount equates to just £2.97 a week or £12.87 a month, for which the BBC provides nine national TV channels plus regional programming; 10 national radio stations, 40 local radio stations plus dedicated Nations radio services; one of the UK’s most popular websites; the radio app BBC Sounds; and BBC iPlayer.

In the last financial year, 94 per cent of the BBC’s controllable spend went on content for audiences and delivery, with just six per cent spent on running the organisation.

Programmes last year included Strictly Come Dancing, Killing Eve, Bodyguard, Dr Who, Peter Kay's Car Share, David Attenborough’s Dynasties, EastEnders, Match of the Day, and coverage of Wimbledon and the World Cup.

Fergus Reid, spokesperson for TV Licensing in Scotland, said: “We know people are always looking for ways to make their money go further, which is why we are reminding people to renew their TV licence before the end of the month.

“We offer a range of ways to spread the cost, including direct debit and weekly cash payments at one of 28,000 PayPoint outlets around the country.”