New BBC Radio Solent breakfast show in Dorset on air
A brand new BBC daily radio programme dedicated to listeners in west Dorset has gone on air after a long campaign.
The breakfast show from BBC Radio Solent will be broadcast live weekdays on 103.8FM between 06:30 and 09:00 BST from studios in Dorchester.
West Dorset MP Oliver Letwin has been a vocal campaigner for many years calling for the county to have its own station.
The Dorset Broadcasting Action Group (DorBAG) also said it was a "major step forward" and supported the new team.
Ken Pett, from the group, said: "It has been almost nine years since we contacted Oliver Letwin and were advised to form an action group.
"We have had expectations [in the past] for new programmes only for them to be dashed."
He said the group will continue to press for a station solely for Dorset and for a better signal in the west of the county.
Mr Letwin, who said he would be tuning in, added: "It's a wonderful thing that this is at last happening.
"I'm hoping that this will start filling the black hole of Dorset local broadcasting."
The new show will be presented by Alina Jenkins, who has been with Radio Solent for 12 years.
She said: "I'm working with a brilliant team and we are eager to get out and about and find the stories that matter to Dorset residents."
It will broadcast to areas including Weymouth, Portland, Dorchester, Wareham, Blandford Forum, Wool and many of the villages in between.
Previous plans for a BBC radio station for Dorset had to be abandoned in 2007 due to budget constraints.
The new show has been approved by the BBC Trust, which reviews each of the BBC's services every five years.