RADIO production students are buzzing with excitement after receiving a £5,000 grant to launch their own station on air.

Ten first-year radio students at University College Warrington plan to kick-start a college station transmitted from a small radio suite at Padgate College campus. Eventually, the team plans to expand the service so that the whole town can tune in.

The students were thrilled this week when the college awarded them the massive cash boost, and are now confident that they can go on air by early next year.

The first programme will feature voice-overs by the BBC's Mitch Johnson, whose dulcet tones regularly grace Live And Kicking and the National Lottery.

The station's schedule will include a wacky breakfast show and a range of specialist music programmes.

Station manager Patrick Jobson said: "It's absolutely fantastic that we have been granted this money. It makes everything complete - after so much hard work from the team there now seems to be a definite air of success."

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.