PERSISTENCE, resilience and a good communicator — that's what it takes to be a TV licensing officer according to Sarah Potterton from Okehampton who decided upon a career change six years ago and has not looked back since.
She had been a nanny and before that had worked behind the delicatessen counter in Lo-Cost.
'My job as a nanny was coming to an end because the children I was caring for had grown up. Rather than be out of work I started scanning the papers for something to do next,' she said.
'I had nothing in mind, so when I saw the position of a TV licence enquiry officer advertised, I thought why not because it quite appealed to me.'
Mrs Potterton had no desire to work in an office, preferring the outdoor life, and working on her own initiative was something she enjoyed.
'I also felt it unfair that a minority of people try to get away without paying for a TV licence,' she said.
Originally working for the Plymouth Division, the enquiry officer was later transferred to the EX postcode area, although she is spared from having to work in her home town.
'It could be quite difficult meeting somebody in the checkout queue if you have just caught them without a TV licence,' she said.
Despite beliefs that being a TV licensing officer is a 'dangerous' profession, Mrs Potterton said she had only had two nasty incidents — once when a householder set his dog on her and the other when someone attempted to punch her, but she quick-wittedly diverted the strike by putting her clipboard in front of her face.
'You have to be streetwise,' she said. 'You do not want to put yourself at risk. I always avoid dark alleys and have my car facing in the right position so I can get away quickly.
'My job is to diffuse the situation but there are very rare occasions when it does not matter how diplomatic you are, you will never stop someone from acting like a raging bull.'
More often than not Mrs Potterton is offered a cup of tea.
'At the end of the day they know they have done wrong and want things to be done in an amicable way.'
The officer says she treats people like she would wish to be treated herself: 'There is no point in being officious with people — it just gets their back up,' she said.
Mrs Potterton, who works as part of a team based in Bodmin, can see up to 90 people a day in a town location or 60 people in a rural location.
She could be in Torquay one day and Bideford the next and is often asked to participate in larger operations outside the area such as London.
'It can be very challenging especially on a big blitz because you have a lot of language and ethnic barriers to overcome.'
TV licensing officers work flexible hours but sometimes Mrs Potterton can be on the go from 8am to 9pm.
'Every day I plan my route and analyse the best time to find people in,' she said.
By the time she visits an address, it will already have been contacted on at least three occasions by TV licensing. If a TV is found to still be use when the premises is visited, Mrs Potterton takes a prosecution statement from the householder who will face a hefty fine.
A hand-held scanner used by TV licensing officers can detect a TV in use at a distance of up to 30 metres. As well as this, they have access to a TV licensing database which holds details of the licence status of 26 million addressed throughout the UK.
Officers are backed up by detector vans which can not only detect a TV in use, but also what channel is being watched.
Mrs Potterton has heard all sorts of funny excuses and she said one of the funniest occasions was when she had to drive down a 1 in 4 road and then walk down a steep dirt track to reach a house right at the bottom of a cliff.
'When I eventually got down to the house, I found the whole family outside eating a cream tea and the father exclaimed: 'Well I never. We were just saying yesterday how we would be safe from the TV people and you would never find us here.'
Every year 400,000 TV licence evaders are caught throughout the UK — an average of 1,000 per day. A total of 1,088 were caught in the EX postcode area between April and December last year.
The more evaders that are caught, the more the net closes in on those who are left behind.
'If you are out there, we will find you,' said the officer.
Mrs Potterton admits her previous jobs had helped her to become a good communicator and have more patience with people.
'You have to be diplomatic, quite tenacious and broad-shouldered,' she said. 'I have always enjoyed meeting and speaking with people and this job really does suit me. It is also very satisfying.
'The myth is that the sort of person who does this job is asking for trouble — trouble is not something I see very often and if I ever needed support another member of the team would be here immediately.'