The BBC TV Licence has been branded "the best value you'll get for £3 a week" by a reader amid rumours of its replacement.

It comes as reports suggest 'all options' relating to the TV licence's future are being considered by the BBC's new chairman.

Stephen Hutchinson said: "It's the best value you'll get for £3 a week. These people who say they never use BBC services, really?

"You've never watched any of the 8 TV channels, listened to any of the national or local radio stations, never caught the weather or football scores, never used any online services like iPlayer or their website for news, sport, weather or their educational resources?

"Yeah, righto."

However, some readers disagreed with this view.

Many called for the licence to be removed, with Melanie Blair saying it "needs scrapping altogether" while Trudi Ranson said: "Haven’t watched any BBC for about 8-10 years."

Terry Tess Savage suggested a different approach, saying: "The TV licence in its current form is not fit for purpose.

"The BBC is a dinosaur from a bygone era, the TV licence should be reformed to be made a subscription fee so people have a choice to watch or not and there would be no need for prosecutions."

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However, Donald Henderson said: "Compare the BBC licence fee to the other network fees. For the content, the BBC is very good value for money."

Liam Spencer said: "It's worth every penny for advert-free radio.

"Can you imagine Radio 2 with commercial breaks?"

The BBC is currently funded through the TV Licence, which costs £159 per year, or £53.50 for black and white televisions.

The annual fee faced years of scrutiny under the Conservative government, with it being frozen for two years at £159 before it was increased at a lower rate than the corporation expected, bringing the charge to £169.50 in April.

In July, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told reporters: “We are committed to the BBC and we are committed to the licensing arrangements.”

But new BBC chairman, Dr Samir Shah, is expected to say “reforming the licence fee, replacing it, or coming up with a whole new mechanism” are all options being considered in discussions about the corporation’s future.