The BBC have announced that budget cuts will force their local radio stations to only broadcast local shows for eight hours a day during the week - from 6am to 2pm.

It would mean that listeners would lose a large proportion of local programming, to be replaced with regional schedules, and in some cases, national content.

We recognise the funding challenges that the BBC faces now and into the future. The BBC offers an extraordinary range of services, and we know that these cannot be provided indefinitely should real-term funding cuts continue. We also acknowledge that a strong digital offer is imperative, and the BBC has to continually look to modernise.

However, we fear that such brutal cuts to programming will be the beginning of the end for the BBC’s local radio stations. People listen to their local stations because they want to share experiences and celebrate their communities and the people within them. It is also about companionship and a sense of belonging. Remove that and what is left? What would set the BBC apart from its commercial competitors? Why, in short, would people choose to tune in any longer?

We urge the BBC to reconsider. Please do not erode one of the BBC’s greatest assets, one that people cherish the most.