After a life at sea, rebel Caroline comes ashore

Radio Caroline, which led the wave of irreverent offshore broadcasters in the 1960s, is to join the radio establishment, landlocked in conventional studios and even charging listeners a subscription.

The pirate radio station, whose all-day pop music output and zany DJ styles encouraged the BBC to set up Radio One, made stars of Tony Blackburn and Johnnie Walker, among others. It was outlawed in 1967 but defied legislation until being finally silenced as a floating broadcaster by a storm in 1990.

Now it has negotiated a deal with WorldSpace Corporation, an international media company, to transmit 24-hour-a-day programmes, playing a mixture of contemporary and classic album music.

The station will initially broadcast from studios in Maidstone, Kent, but hopes to return to its former home on the salvaged trawler Ross Revenge. At first it will offer a free service but it aims to become a subscription service costing £4.99 a month.

Since 1990, Radio Caroline has been broadcasting legally on restricted service licences from a ship berthed at various towns along the Thames and the Medway.