He has been passionate about televisions since he was a child and has a collection of more than 50 sets.

But the ultimate telly addict has one TV that he prizes above all others – the second oldest working set in Britain.

John Wakely, of Bognor Road, Horsham, owns an original 1938 HMV 900 but he stresses the rare set is not for sale.

Mr Wakely said: “I don't know how much it is worth but I would never sell it. It's irreplaceable. I could never put a price on it.”

Mr Wakely bought the set from a customer in 1975 whilst he was running his own television and radio repair shop in South West London.

The 61-year-old said: “No one was interested in old TVs back then except people like myself and I managed to repair it and I was able to keep it.

“It still works extremely well and the picture is very good.

“These sets were common place and you grow up with them but then you realise that they are gone and they are part of history in the same way as cars.”

The 12 inch set was one of the first to be made for the public and would have cost about 80 guineas.

It sits in a wooden cabinet and the viewer sees the picture reflected on a mirror inside the top lid.

However quaint it may seem now, the 71-year-old set has far outlived the majority of newer models and Mr Wakely thinks that older electrical goods are often better than their newer counterparts.

He said: “They were better constructed in the past. Things were made to last. People bought them and expected to keep them for ten or 15 years.

“This one has lasted more than 70 years which is amazing.

“Most of the time people replace things, not because they stop working, but because they become obsolete. Most of the TVs down the dump would still work.”

The pre-war TV will be converted to digital, proving that even the oldest sets can take part in the digital age.

Mr Wakely said: “I like modern technology. I think one the greatest advances is the colour TV.

“It is still very watchable, and converting the set to digital means I can continue to watch it for many years to come.”

Despite being more than 70 years old, Mr Wakely’s is not the oldest privately owned set in the country.

A search by Digital UK, the body leading the switch to digital TV, and Iain Logie Baird, the grandson of TV inventor John Logie Baird, discovered a television dating back to 1936 in North London.