The BBC is failing to prosecute viewers who refuse to pay the television licence on principle amid claims that the corporation fears creating a wave of “martyrs”.

The band of licence-fee refuseniks include Vladimir Bukovsky, a former Russian dissident, Noel Edmonds, the television presenter, and Euro-sceptics who believe the BBC is politically biased.

Charles Moore, a columnist for The Spectator magazine, has said he will not renew his TV licence if the corporation continues to employ Jonathan Ross, the disgraced chat show host who is paid £6m a year.

The BBC’s approach to such viewers contrasts with the “bully-boy” tactics it employs to force others to pay the £139.50 annual levy. Some people have received more than 80 warning letters, threatening prosecution and a maximum £1,000 fine, even though they have paid or do not own a television.

Bukovsky, who spent more than 10 years in Soviet labour camps and psychiatric hospitals, decided not to renew his TV licence in 2002. He claimed the BBC had breached its royal charter which requires the broadcaster to provide fair and balanced coverage of issues such as the European Union and the Middle East.

Six years later, Bukovsky, 65, of Cambridge, revealed that he still does not have a TV licence and has never been prosecuted.

He claimed that 2,000 people who joined his nonpayment campaign have also not had any legal action brought against them, although TV Licensing (TVL), the body that collects the levy on behalf of the BBC, disputes this.

“Virtually no one was bothered,” said Bukovsky. “It seems the BBC didn’t want to walk into the trap and make me a martyr. I wanted people to see images of me being handcuffed and dragged into court . . . but instead the BBC retreated quietly.”

Another viewer who has been watching television without a licence since 2002 is John Kelly, 70, of Exmouth, Devon.

Kelly, a member of the UK Independence party, tore up his TV licence in protest against what he perceived as the BBC’s pro-EU bias.

“I want them to summons me [to court]; I want them to prosecute me,” said Kelly. “By failing to pursue me, the BBC is implicitly accepting my case and others may be encouraged to pursue the same course.”

Edmonds, who worked at the BBC for 30 years and now presents programmes on Channel 4 and Sky One, handed back his licence earlier this year because he was angered by “threatening” BBC adverts that promise to catch evaders.

One advert, which has now been pulled, warned: “Your town, your street, your home . . . it’s all in the database,” over the menacing soundtrack of helicopters, sirens and barking dogs.

Edmonds, 59, said he wanted the BBC to place more emphasis on the “value for money” it provides, rather than using “bullyboy tactics to extract money from people”. “When they are more celebratory about what the service is worth, I will happily start paying my licence fee again,” he told The Sunday Times.

Other potential TV licence rebels object to paying on grounds of taste and decency. Moore has singled out the vulgar antics of Ross, suspended for three months after leaving obscene phone messages for Andrew Sachs, the Fawlty Towers actor, during a Radio 2 show. Ross has also been criticised for offering sex to Gwyneth Paltrow, a guest on his BBC1 chat show.

“I don’t think it’s right to pay the licence fee for something which is insulting to the public,” said Moore.

Meanwhile, doubts have been raised about TVL’s ability to prosecute people who watch live television on computers or mobile phones. The BBC plans to simultaneoulsy broadcast all its channels on television and online. Viewers who choose to watch so-called “simulcasts” on laptops, PCs or mobiles still require a licence.

Experts believe TVL would struggle to prove what a user has been watching without infringing their privacy by accessing their computer or obtaining information from internet service providers.

It prosecuted 151,137 people last year and insisted that among them were those who objected to the fee on principle.

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