THOUSANDS of Fife pensioners are set to lose their free TV licence in 2020, an MSP has warned.

Claire Baker said more than 24,000 households in the Kingdom with someone aged 75 or older are at risk and has called for a government re-think.

The Mid Scotland and Fife Labour MSP said a current consultation from the BBC could see free licences scrapped altogether, other options include raising the age of eligibility from 75 to 80 or have it means tested.

Ms Baker said that, if the age threshold was moved to 80, then 9,870 local pensioners would lose their free TV licence. If it becomes means tested, it's estimated as many as 18,990 pensioners will lose the free licence.

She explained: "The Campaign to End Loneliness found that 40 per cent of older people say their television is their main source of company.

"Any changes will be a terrible blow to older people who already struggle to make ends meet and particularly to those who are housebound or isolated and rely on their TV for company."

The MSP highlighted a 2017 manifesto pledge from the Conservatives to protect free TV licences and added: "The Tory Government needs come clean and to tell us urgently what they are going to do to ensure free TV licences aren’t cut and they don’t break their manifesto promise.

"If they do nothing, responsibility for older people losing their TV licences will rest firmly at their feet.”