UK's oldest TV set discovered in London

The oldest working television set in the UK has been discovered at a house in London, according to reports.

Dating back to 1936, the Marconiphone has a 12-inch screen fixed in a wooden cabinet, with a vertically-mounted cathode ray tube reflecting the image on to a mirror.

It was uncovered during a competition launched by The Mirror's We Love Telly blog to locate the oldest TV set in the UK that is still in working order.

The TV is owned by electric engineer Jeffrey Borinsky, who purchased it ten years ago from a fellow collector and has since worked to restore it to its original condition.

Aside volume and vertical hold controls, it has no channel changing function as the BBC was the only channel available when it was launched.

However, a standards converter has since been fitted to the set so it can be connected to a Freeview receiver to show digital terrestrial television.

Speaking to BBC News, Borinsky revealed that he runs the TV for just two hours at a time, mostly to watch classic films from the 1930s and '40s.

"The cabinet was beautifully restored by the previous owner, but my aim is to gradually restore its electronics to its true 1936 magnificence," he explained.

A similar set is owned by Bradford's National Media Museum but is not operated in order to preserve it from damage.