The BBC has been accused of causing "untold heartache" for the family of missing Claudia Lawrence after chasing her for licence fee payments 14 years after she went missing.
Ms Lawrence, 35, was last seen on the evening of March 18, 2009 near her home in Heworth, Yorkshire.
The university chef vanished as she walked to work for a 6am shift at York University, with her disappearance prompting a murder investigation.
Her mother, Joan, 79, told The Sun newspaper that the broadcaster had sent demands to Ms Lawrence’s cottage including threats of court action and a £1,000 fine.
She said: “It’s unbelievable and needs to stop."
She has called on the police to stop the BBC sending demands, adding that “they cause untold heartache”.
Mrs Lawrence said she consistently finds the letters on visits to her daughter’s cottage, which she has preserved on her own since the death of her ex-husband, Peter, in 2021. Ms Lawrence was 35 when she vanished and is presumed dead.
Mrs Lawrence has contacted the TV Licensing Authority, run by the BBC, to ask them to stop sending the letters, but said that her request was ignored, with another letter which followed threatening a £1,000 fine if the licence was not paid.
She said: “I’ve written to them to tell them what’s happened, and the police are supposed to be sorting it out, but the letters still come.
“Receiving these letters causes me untold heartache.”
Ms Lawrence’s disappearance featured on the BBC programme Crimewatch. Mrs Lawrence added: “You’d think they’d know by now, after all the publicity, wouldn’t you?
“They must have sent two or three letters a year in all the time this has been happening.
“One was nasty and horrible. It threatened that not paying could affect her credit score.
“I’m not someone who has ever had any debts, I pay for things straight away, so it was an awful thing to read. It really must stop.”
'Emotionally draining'
Mrs Lawrence drives from her home in Malton, North Yorkshire, every fortnight to check on the cottage, and said that she finds the visits “emotionally draining”.
In January, BBC chairman Richard Sharp, who has faced calls to resign over his friendship with Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, branded the £159 annual licence fee “anachronistic”. He said it is a regressive tax which predominantly impacts women and poorer households.
He said: “In some ways it’s considered anachronistic because there are other countries that adopt other mechanisms.
"And there are a number of issues in terms of how we collect the licence fee from pensioners and also issues arising from people’s failure to pay the licence for example, with respect to gender issues, so it is imperfect.”
Last night Tory MP Kevin Foster said: “My heart goes out to Claudia’s mum Joan.
“It just gets worse for the BBC, it is simply impossible to justify these demands. If anything, it only advances the cause of decriminalising paying for a TV service.”
'Heads should roll'
Fellow Tory MP David Morris said: “This is a disgrace. There are simply no excuses. Heads should roll.”
A BBC spokesman said: “We are sorry for any distress caused to Ms Lawrence. No letters sent to the unlicensed property have been in Claudia’s name.
“Since we were told the property is empty we have placed a hold on the address so no further letters will be sent, and this will not be removed until we are informed that the property is occupied.”
