Among the almost 3.5 million people who have scrapped their TV licence since 2013, many are moving onto streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. 

MPs have called for the annual £147 licence fee, which increased by £1.50 in April, to be dropped. 

Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg said the licence fee "model" was "out of date".

He added: “The BBC will have to scrap this in favour of a more modern approach — be that with advertising, a subscription model.”  

Netflix, which has adopted the subscription-based model since its creation, topped 100 million subscribers worldwide in July. 

Figures obtained under Freedom of Information rules show 788,605 people snubbed the BBC cancelling their licence in 2017.

In the preceding years it was 817,509, 875,169, and 945,751. 

Tory David Davies said: “These reflect that millions of people feel that the BBC no longer reflects their outlook on life. 

“If the BBC don’t start representing the large slice of the populace, who support Brexit and worry about immigration, then we will end up having to move towards a subscription service.”

The MPs outcry is backed by more than a quarter of the British population. 

A poll conducted last year showed that 29 per cent of people thought the licence fee should be scrapped.  

People who failed to pay and those who are eligible for a free licence are counted in the 3.5 million figure. 

A BBC and TV Licensing said the “number of cancellations has declined by 17 per cent since 2013/14”. 

He added: “There are more licences in force than ever before – 25.8 million.”