AN avid television collector from North Finchley has won a nationwide search to find the country's oldest working telly.

Jeffrey Borinsky, a consultant engineer and TV collector, is the proud owner of a black-and-white Marconiphone TV, which dates from 1936 and is still in its original condition - albeit with the modern addition of a set-top box to convert it from analogue to digital.

Mr Borinsky, 52, was named as the winner after entering the competition, which was launched in May by Digital UK and Iain Logie Baird, grandson of TV inventor John Logie Baird.

The veteran set has a 12-inch screen and is estimated to have been manufactured around November 1936, the same month as the BBC television service from Alexandra Palace was first broadcast.

But only the wealthy would have been able to afford the set when it was first produced 72 years ago, at the asking price of 60 Guineas, or around £11,000 today.

The historic television would have shown a number of seminal broadcasts over the years, including King George VI’s coronation procession in 1937, the 1948 London Olympic Games and the Queen’s Coronation in 1953.

Mr Borinsky, who has owned the Marconiphone for ten years, said 20,000 sets were made before the war, but only 200 now survive.

He refused to say how much he paid for the TV, but confirmed he "could have bought a small, second-hand car for the price".

He added: "I feel incredibly lucky to be one of the few people to own a set like this. It is very much the pride of my collection.

"I still enjoy watching it occasionally, especially cartoons from the Thirties, which the original owner might also have seen on the set.

"Watching other footage from the period is difficult, because most programmes were made live at Alexandra Palace back then. But converting the set to digital means I can continue to watch it for many years to come.”

Iain Logie Baird said: “A small fraction of pre-war tellies still exist. Many fell into disrepair or were simply thrown out when a newer set arrived, and we know about 3,000 were lost in the London bombings.

"Today, most surviving pre-war sets are found in museums or in private collections.

"It’s wonderful to find a Marconiphone 702 still in private ownership and in full working order more than half a century after it was first manufactured.”