The BBC is to use Capita, the controversial TV Licensing collection firm, to provide the “outreach” officers who will visit the homes of over-75s in pursuit of licence fee payments.

Two years ago, the corporation ordered an investigation into reports that Capita employees were using aggressive tactics to target vulnerable people.

An area manager for the firm was recorded by an undercover reporter explaining the company’s methods of collection, which included taking payments on the spot with handheld card machines.

“Cash, debit, credit card - we’ll take anything. I tell people I’ll take shirt buttons,” the manager said. The company had an incentive scheme in which enforcement officials earned bonuses based on how many licence fees they sold on the doorstep.

A former RAF officer suffering from a brain tumour and early onset dementia was taken to court for non-payment after he forgot to renew his licence.

It was claimed that a Capita worker, told of the man’s condition, replied that he did not have time to “listen to excuses”. The case was only dropped when his doctor provided written evidence of his condition to magistrates.

At the time, the BBC’s director-general, Lord Hall of Birkenhead, expressed “serious concern” about the allegations.