The cost of the annual television licence fee will increase from £154.50 to £157.50 from April 1, the BBC has said.

The fee is set by the Government, which announced in 2016 that it would rise in line with inflation for five years from April 2017.

The new cost equates to £3.02 per week – or £13.13 per month, according to the broadcaster.

The price change will not currently have an impact on the free over-75s TV licence.

Gary Lineker has called for the licence to be optional (PA)Gary Lineker has called for the licence to be optional (PA)

Last week, Match Of The Day host Gary Lineker said that buying a TV licence should not be compulsory.

He said that if you made purchasing the licence optional, “you would lose some people, but at the same time you’d up the price a bit”.