A new gay radio station based in Frinton is to hit the airwaves at the weekend.

LBH Radio, which stands for Lesbian, Bisexual and Homosexual, will begin broadcasting at 11pm on Sunday on 1386kw medium wave.

The station is based yards from the town's prestigious gates at the former Mellow Radio studio in Walton Road.

It will feature a gay soap opera, phone-ins and a mix of music when the station launches its full programme in three weeks.

Torquil Riley-Smith, the company's managing director, said the station was using a powerful 1,200kw transmitter on the Russian/Polish border which meant it has a catchment area of 480 million people.

The station will begin full broadcasting in three weeks and it is hoped to attract an audience of up to 400,000 people by that time.

Mr Riley-Smith added: "It's a major tease for a few weeks with music, jingles and promotions for programmes which are coming up."

Mr Riley-Smith said an unannounced test broadcast in July had received 50 phone calls of interest in the UK alone, and there had been no adverse reaction from residents in Frinton.

He added: "We have had no bricks through windows, no daubing of paint and nobody getting violent. In the first three weeks a lot of it will be based around the phrase 'the scene'. The scene means a lot for gay people but is inoffensive to straight people."

LBH Radio will broadcast just at night on the radio but soon those with digital television or access to the internet will be able to hear it 24 hours a day.

The station has already received e-mails of support and interest, some from as far afield as St Petersburg in Russia.

In the evenings the station will play songs from the 1970s through to current dance music and then have a phone-in when one or two people will discuss gay issues or relationship problems.

About to hit the airwaves - LBH Radio

By Mark Beales

Reporter's e-mail: mark_beales@thisisessex.co.uk

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