While many of us may be enjoying the latest TV shows and films on 3D or giant plasma screens, for a small number of people the black-and-white telly is just fine and dandy.

New figures reveal there are still scores of TV viewers in the county happy to watch their TV in monochrome, 45 years after the first colour televisions came on sale in the UK.

Brighton and Hove is the television timebomb hotspot with 34 black and white licence holders.


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There are also 12 residents in Eastbourne, 11 in Crawley and 10 in Worthing and Bexhill all receiving the latest news and TV shows in the old style, first created by one-time Hastings resident John Logie Baird in 1926.

But the old traditionalists are on their way out with the number of black and white licence holders falling sharply in the past two years.

In 2011 there were more than 150 households watching black and white TV in Brighton and Hove with another 28 in both Eastbourne and Worthing.

The fall locally mirrors the national picture where the 212,000 black and white licence holders at the turn of the millennium has dropped to just 11,550 black and white licences today.

For colour TV refuseniks, most black and white TVs are still capable of receiving a digital signal if they are connected to a digibox.

The retro watchers also make a saving on their TV licences with a black and white licence setting back residents just £49 compared to £145.50 a year.

Iain Logie Baird, associate curator at the National Media Museum and grandson of television inventor John Logie Baird, said: “There will always be a small group of people who continue to make the most of black and white TV.

“They may prefer monochrome images, collect vintage sets or just don't want to throw away a working piece of technology.”

Emma Cowlard, TV Licensing spokeswoman, said: “We may be on the brink of losing black and white sets to the history books, but older technology will always be replaced by exciting new ways of watching live.

“It’s important that no matter how you watch live TV, whether on a black and white set, or online, you’re correctly licensed to do so.”