A TELEVISION that was specifically made to watch the first televised coronation — that of the Queen's father, King George VI — is still going strong.

Peter Carlton, who at 37 is considerably younger than his TV, is the proud owner of a Marconi 703 Mastergram, which was cutting edge entertainment when it was made in 1937.

It is now one of the oldest working televisions in the country.

Peter and his wife Christine still regularly watch the television at their Buckland Brewer home.

Peter said although the 12-inch screen can't get a colour picture it can connect to Freeview, Sky, videogames and DVD players.

The mirror lid television set also has a working radio and autochanger gramophone and measures some four feet long.

In 1937 it was on sale for 120 guineas — the same price as a small house — and only eight of the sets were ever made.

Peter, a vintage enthusiast, also has May 7, 1937, edition of the Radio Times which advertises the exact television for sale.

He said: "We still continue to use it as I love watching television in black and white.

"The set gives a fantastic crisp and stable picture — it even states on it that it is high definition."

The set was originally bought by a sea captain, who lived in the London area in 1937, to watch the coronation.

He continued using the television and the set broadcast the first transmission after the war in 1946.

In the 1960s the sea captain put the television into storage, where it stayed for some 20 years until a collector friend of Peter's bought it.

With the television being so big that it takes six people to move, his friend decided to get rid of it.

Peter swapped a vintage car for the old set, which has a mirror near the screen.

He said he never buys any new technology — everything in his home is vintage from telephones and juke boxes to radios.

And his 11-year-old step-grandson, Bradley Lee, also shares the passion.

Peter added: "It is great we share the same love of everything vintage. We quite often sit there watching old episodes of Top of the Pops."

The TV relic was recently named runner up in a competition organised by Digital UK.

The nation's oldest set is based in North London, and was manufactured just one year before Mr Carlton's, in November 1936.