Whilst I am sympathetic to your complaint about the cock-up and the fact that the whole business of the close season should be abolished completely (IMO) so that this would not occur again, I cannot defend your decision not to buy a licence.
If there is one thing that is securely enshrined in law it is that you cannot fish in this country without a rod licence and to do so you run the risk of being caught and fined - and receive a criminal conviction (that also means you can't enter shows like 'Who Wants To Be' etc. and you must declare your criminal record on all job applications).
Think carefully about it Mr Blanker, is it really worth it? You wouldn't be able to use their cock-ups as an excuse in Court, but on your head be it.
whilst i may agree with your views on the close season i dont expect anyone to defend my decision not to buy a licence it is my choice and my decision and i will not change my mind while this bunch of morons are in control,
as for being caught and fined i have only ever been asked for my licence twice in over 55 years of fishing (during which time i sometimes had up to 4 different licences under the old system) , having a criminal record for such a dastardly crime wouldnt bother me and i dont apply for jobs as i am retired .
you are wrong when you say that you cannot fish in this country without a licence i have been doing so for the last 2 seasons and it doesnt seem to have affected my fishing at all but i know what you mean.
its not the money that i begrudge but the fact that the people that recieve my money are not doing what they are supposed to do with it,would you keep going to a petrol station for £27 worth of fuel and only get £5 worth each time i suspect you would change petrol station, unfortunately with the rod licence there is no other station to go to,perhaps its time there was somewhere else to go with rod licence money such as the angling trust.