Almost 9,000 Viewers Claim TV Licence Refunds After Bilsdale Transmitter Fire

The BBC has confirmed that almost 9,000 viewers in the north east of England have claimed a TV licence refund as a result of the Bilsdale transmitter fire.

Television, radio and mobile communications services were disrupted when fire broke out at the 314 metre high guyed tubular steel mast on 10th August 2021.

The original transmitter, which was owned by telecommunications giant Arqiva, was a prominent feature on the North Yorkshire landscape. Originally constructed in 1969, the fire-damaged structure was demolished in early October when Arqiva determined it was beyond repair.

The Bilsdale transmitter services 570,000 homes in Teesside, County Durham and North Yorkshire, of which more than 10,000 are still without a signal more than three months after the fire.

In defence of Arqiva, it has not been a straightforward task to restore service to those homes due to the dangerous condition of the fire-damaged mast and permissions needed to install a temporary replacement in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park.

The 95 metre temporary replacement mast is now in operation, along with new temporary relays at Loftus, Thirsk and Arncliffe Wood. The existing relay at Eston Nab has been modified in order to supplement service to remaining signal blackspots.

In an effort to make amends Arqiva sent £50 Currys vouchers to the 16,000 homes that were still without a reliable service by the end of October. This is in addition to the TV licence refunds on offer to those worst affected by the outage.

A BBC spokesman said: "Following the incident at Bilsdale, we continue to assist customers to claim refunds or licence extensions, and nearly 9,000 households have already done so.

"If a household has been unable to receive TV coverage for a month or more, and are also unable to view BBC programming through BBC iPlayer, and satellite and cable platforms, they will be able to claim a refund or be offered a free extension to their TV licence, depending on their TV Licensing payment plan.

"The small number who remain without services will need to contact TV Licensing to claim a refund or licence extension for the third month."

Arqiva has established a website dedicated to those viewers affected by the Bilsdale transmitter fire.

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