Irvine pensioners burned their TV licence letters in protest against the withdrawal of their free licenses last week.

Campaigners Irvine Seniors Forum, joined by the area’s Trades Union Council, took to the streets on Friday July 19 as they gathered signatures in Irvine’s Bridgegate against the withdrawal of the over 75s free TV licences.

And North Ayrshire’s Older People’s Champion Cllr Jimmy Miller compared the removal of senior’s free licences to the unpopular poll tax.

He said: “We got a lot of signatures and we did a burning of the letters. I’m advising people, but not telling them, but advising them not to pay it.

"I think it’s going to get like the poll tax when they started that up here.

“It’s going to get to the stage where people are saying ‘no we’re not paying it’ and you can’t put 3.5 million pensioners in the jail.

“Personally I think the day for signatures is past now, we’ve done that. We now need to think of new positive action.

“I think that they are going to have to back off on this one, people are saying it’s just not right.

“We’ve got the support of Age Scotland and I can’t overemphasis the support from North Ayrshire Council, I put a motion up to the council to write to the Minister saying we don’t like the idea of them losing their licences and that passed unanimously.”

Rosemary Byrne, Chair of Irvine Seniors Forum, said: “People are very angry. Many lonely older depend on their TV as a lifeline, and are very worried about this.

“It’s obscene when you see the amount of money the BBC is paying its presenters. These people have paid into the system all their lives.

“They are already making difficult choices about what they spend their money on, and now they’re going to have to find extra money they haven’t budgeted for.

“We need to keep the momentum going.

“I think there will be people over 75 refusing to pay this.”