A FLAGSHIP call centre in Darwen has employed more than 70 people to blitz TV licence dodgers.

The new office, located on the third floor of India Mill, is part of the centralisation of Capita and the new office will co-ordinate the company's field services in the North West.

The jobs boost is further proof of Darwen's growing role as one of the main northern bases for Capita.

The fourth floor of India Mill was handed to Capita last June after the company won the £500 million TV Licensing contract in February. Out of the company's 282 call centre workers, more than 90 per cent come from Darwen and Blackburn.

The role of staff at the new office will be to crack down on people who evade the £112 TV Licence fee. Blackburn and Darwen came fourth in the county with 1,349 people dodging buying a licence in 2002. Wigan topped the list with 2,313.

One hundred evaders from Blackburn and Darwen appeared in court.

Steve Braidwood, Capita TV Licensing communications officer, said: "It's part of our aim to centralise our services and, in doing this, we bring jobs to Darwen. The office will co-ordinate the administration of field services with people who go around the houses and check if home-owners have licences.

"The new office and the extra staff will be advantageous to catching people who are dodging licences in Darwen.

"Then there are the prosecutions where a lot of paperwork needs to be done. The new office will be heavily involved in paperwork.

"It is the next step in our efforts to improve efficiency of TV Licensing administration, catching evaders faster and more consistently. We will have more enquiry officers on the scene with state-of-the-art detection equipment."

Around 1,000 evaders are caught every day across the country and face a maximum fine of up to £1,000.

A national database charts more than 28 million UK addresses which can identify whether or not a home has a licence.