Thousands still confused about digital switch and are buying 'obsolete' TVs

Analogue televisions are still selling in their thousands, even though they will soon become obsolete.

One in five consumers is splashing out on an old-fashioned set, which will not receive signals within a few years following the switchover to digital, a report by MPs found.

The switchover will see the analogue signal turned off region by region until 2012.

The first to switch was Whitehaven, Cumbria, in October last year. Yet the Commons Public Accounts Committee found almost half of TVs sold in the first seven months of 2007 were analogue.

The latest figures, for April 2008, show that of 530,900 sets sold, 105,400 were analogue.

David Sinclair, of Help the Aged, said: 'Without mandatory labelling, there is a risk that some customers may make the wrong purchasing decisions and buy products that will simply not work, or need adaptation once the digital switchover is completed.'

However, Digital UK, the company running the switchover, said research showed that while some customers buying analogue TVs are simply confused, 90 per cent knew they would eventually need to buy a set-top box to receive a digital signal.

The demand may partly be explained by price, as standalone digital sets tend to cost more than the price of an analogue TV and a set-top box.

A cheap analogue television costs from about £50 and a settop digital box can cost as little as £12, whereas the cheapest integrated digital TVs start from about £100.

Anyone wanting satellite or cable TV may not choose builtin digital, as they need a set top box anyway.

A Digital UK spokesman said: 'Some people may choose to buy analogue televisions for use with DVD players or games consoles.

'However, it is essential that retailers explain the implications of switchover to customers when they buy any analogue equipment.'

The MPs' report also said that despite a £200million public information campaign, many still do not understand digital switchover.

It claimed consumers had 'not been well served' by the voluntary 'Digital Tick' labelling scheme introduced four years ago, with even half of sales staff unable to explain what the logo meant.

The Public Accounts Committee chairman, Conservative MP Edward Leigh, said: 'Many viewers do not seem fully to understand the implications of the analogue switch-off and are still buying analogue televisions – unaware that they have built-in obsolescence.

'The evidence is that the Digital Tick label with which digital televisions are flagged in shops is a mystery to many retail staff, let alone the people to whom they sell TVs.'

The report also criticised the Government for 'not taking adequate safeguards to secure value for money' and accountability in the switchover, which has received £803million of licence fee cash.

In particular, it was unclear what would happen to a projected £250million of surplus cash from a scheme to help the elderly and disabled with the switchover.

Liberal Democrat media spokesman Don Foster said: 'It looks increasingly like licence fee-payers have been hit for a lot more money than was actually needed.'

Despite the criticism, the report did find that the switchover timetable is generally on track.