Letter: Local stations merged by BBC

Sir: Nigel Chapman's reply to Polly Toynbee's plea for more local radio is opposite to the BBC's actual policy, which is to regionalise stations, rather than localise them.

Here on the south coast we once had an excellent local station called BBC Radio Brighton, providing a service of local news and information plus contributions from local musicians and personalities. This was eventually changed to BBC Radio Sussex, making it somewhat less local. Then it became BBC Radio Sussex & Surrey and now it is BBC Southern Counties Radio, covering parts of Hampshire, too.

Most of the original Brighton studios have been vacated, leaving a skeleton newsroom staff and no access for the public. What was once a local Brighton station is now run from Guildford and the all-talk output has little to interest listeners in Sussex. Letters of complaint to the BBC bring a standard answer that this is what the public wants.

IAN BUXTON

Brighton, East Sussex