TELLY fans face paying £4 a year for their TV Licence after the BBC confirmed price rise for a third year in a row.

Bill payers now have to fork out £154.50 annually - up by £4 from £150.50 the year before.

In 2014, the Government announced that it would push up the cost of the annual fee - which funds BBC programming - for households to rise in line with inflation which was at 2.68 in the 12 months to September 2018.

In 2017, they increased fees for the first time since 2010, adding another £1.50 to household bills.

Since then they've increased prices every year, meaning Brits now pay £9.50 more annually than they did three years ago.

Now, viewers face another two more years of price rises.

Those buying or renewing a licence after April 1 2019 will have to pay the higher rate, while those who are on a monthly or weekly plan take out before then will continue to pay the old fee until the licence is up for renewal.

The cost of an annual black and white TV licence will also go up from £50.50 a year to £52.

Almost 3.5million Brits cancelled their TV licence fee between 2014 and 2018 — a rate of almost one million a year.

The figures showed that many are snubbing the BBC in favour of streaming sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and NowTV.

The BBC is already threatening to take away free licences for millions of pensioners as it considers increasing the age threshold for eligibility.

One report even warned that scrapping the fee could push 50,000 elderly bills payers into poverty.

Telly fans used to be able to watch their favourite shows on BBC iPlayer for free but since 2016 the Government closed the loophole.

Now, you have to pay the annual fee whether you're watching live TV or the catch up service on any device.

The BBC pointed out that the licence fee funded award-winning shows like Killing Eve, Strictly Come Dancing and Match of the Day.