Listeners in Kent are to benefit from improved digital radio coverage from today.
The last of nine new transmitters in the county was switched on this morning by Folkestone and Hythe MP Damian Collins, representatives from radio stations in Kent and pupils at a local primary school.
Around 800,000 listeners should benefit from the improved coverage, which doubles the number of residents who can receive local digital stations. The switch-on of the Turnpike Hill transmitter expands coverage to 95% of households and roads.
During the last six months eight further transmitters have been switched on in Kent at Wrotham, Swingate, Etchinghill, Creteway Down, St Marks and Dunkirk. An additional transmitter also serves Kent from Benfleet, on the other side of the river Thames. For some listeners in the South East of Kent it will be the first time that local digital radio stations have been available. The improvements will affect the coast from Dungeness to Deal, as well as Folkestone, Dover and the South Downs.
The local digital radio transmitters in Kent were first switched on more than 10 years ago. The line-up of local DAB stations in Kent now includes BBC Radio Kent, kmfm, Heart Kent, Smooth Kent, Capital, Gold, and the new Encore Radio.
The additional transmitters are part of a programme to improve digital radio coverage across the UK. By the end of the year 182 transmitters will have been built, extending local DAB digital radio to 91% of the UK population.
Digital radio users in the county should re-tune their digital radios to receive the newly available stations.