Enfield is a hot-spot for black and white television watchers.

Figures released by TV Licensing show that after 46 years of colour televisions, 42 people are still watching programmes on monochrome sets.

A total of 74 black and white sets are in use in Dagenham, 43 in Ilford, and 32 in Harrow.

John Trenouth, a television and radio technology historian, added:  “The continued use of black and white TV sets, despite the obstacles, is more likely to be driven by economics than by nostalgia.

“For low-income households, the black and white licence fee is an attractive alternative to the full colour fee.

“There will always be a small number of users who prefer monochrome images, don't want to throw away a working piece of technology or collect old TV sets.”

In 2000, there were 212,000 black and white television licences issued, but the number had shrunk to 93,000 by 2003.

In 2006, less than 50,000 were watching television on black and white sets. At the beginning of this year, just 13,202 black and white licences were issued in the UK.