COMMUNITY radio stations have teamed up to apply to run a DAB radio service across Bournemouth and Boscombe.

Hope FM, Hot Radio and Hospital Radio Bedside have joined forces with broadcast engineering company, Wide FM, to apply to run the small-scale DAB service in the near future.

The quartet is also supported by organisations including Bournemouth University, Community Action Network, Bollywood Music Lovers Bournemouth, Dorset Chamber of Commerce and Trade and The Talbot Village Trust.

The newly formed company, BH Community DAB, aims to secure the future of local radio for the conurbation.

(Image: BH Community DAB)

Kevin Scott, CEO of the Hot Radio family, and director of the new company said: “I believe it is imperative that this new community asset stays in the hands of the community, enabling us to offer an accessible and affordable DAB platform for community radio stations, as well as current radio broadcast providers from all sectors.”

Operations manager at Hope FM, and fellow BH Community DAB director, Dan Withey added: “It’s exciting that community interest radio stations throughout BCP and Dorset will finally get an affordable route into local DAB broadcasting – this has simply not been an option for many of us until now.”

Hospital Radio Bedside chairman, Gary Plummer, said: “HRB is excited to be part of this new venture.

“Part of our strategy is to develop ourselves as a community-based health and wellbeing-based radio station and offers HRB an amazing opportunity for us to connect with our wider community.”

The application is supported by new Bournemouth and Poole MPs Tom Hayes, Jessica Toale and Neil Duncan-Jordan and Dorset PCC David Sidwick.

Other radio stations across the south have backed the application, too, including Nerve Radio from the BU Students Union, Forest FM, AIR 107.2, Unity 101, Voice FM, Outreach Radio, Mi-Soul and Gaydio.