TV Licence payers are rushing to cancel their automatic payments ahead of a looming planned April rule change.

The TV licence fee is set to rise from £169.50 to £174.50 starting April 1, but thousands of individuals are exempt from this increase.

BirminghamLive reports many people have taken to social media to express their anger at the hike, with some declaring they will end their direct debits.

The paper reports one person fumed: "People can manage quite happily without it. We live in an age of on demand entertainment.

"There is little need for live TV when you can watch catch-up (except on iPlayer) without the need to pay the BBC tax - of which a huge sum is spent on enforcement, given the number of threatening letters they send out each month to non-payers."

Another person observed in a lengthy post online: "All well and good but the money is not being spent on programming is it.

"Nope, no reason the BBC needs more than 5 billion, and Reeves (the Chancellor Rachel Reeves) has postponed the spending review, so really no government department increases can be allowed until that is done.

"A sensible MP would decriminalise the licence fee and then make the BBC subscription only, easy, lots of choice...the people can then decide and it won't be a tax anymore, not difficult at all and very fair."