A director in charge of a controversial TV Licensing advertising campaign is to meet angry Coventry residents furious at the way their area was portrayed.

Two roads from the Wood End area of Coventry were used in a high-profile campaign on buses and posters.

The advert pointed out that how many houses in a particular road did not have licences. The aim of the campaign was to make it clear to people how officers know who was cheating the annual fee.

But residents in Wood End were furious that two of their roads: Milverton Road and Lapworth Road, were selected. They said it branded Wood End as a place populated by criminals, and re-inforced negative stereotypes about the area.

Despite claims by TV Licensing that the streets were merely long roads picked at random, Coventry North East MP Bob Ainsworth took up the case.

He held a meeting with David Lane, Director of Revenue, procurement and Service from the TV Licence Free management Unit at the BBC.

Mr Lane said he would not change the advertising policy, and said that individual houses cannot be named for legal reasons.

Mr Ainsworth said:

“He claimed widespread support for the policy outside the BBC.

“However, when challenged to prove this has come back from the length and breadth of the country with two councillors and one unnamed Scottish SMP.”

He agreed to meet residents in Wood End to discuss the policy, and Mr Ainsworth said he would take him up on this offer.