Crawley's Mercury FM to close

By alex morrison

MERCURY FM is to be taken off the air after more than 25 years of broadcasting from Crawley.

The popular local station will relocate and merge with Heart Brighton to become Heart Sussex as part of a nationwide cost-cutting exercise by owner Global Radio.

On Monday morning, workers at Mercury's Manor Royal base were told about a staff meeting at 3pm that day.

But an hour before the meeting, an e-mail, apparently sent out early by accident, told them Mercury would merge with Heart Brighton on July 26, meaning a "risk of redundancies".

Stunned staff were told there are "very exciting times" ahead as Global creates 15 "centres of broadcasting excellence" by merging its 33 current stations.

But Mercury, which employs around 20 full-time and freelance staff, is one of the locations being closed and absorbed into another office.

The changes come after the Digital Economy Act, passed by Parliament in April, changed the rules about where local radio stations can be based and how much "local" programming must be produced. Heart local stations around the country produce some programmes locally and take some from Heart's national station. Heart Brighton currently broadcasts eight hours of local shows per day.

A Global Radio spokesman said: "The changes at Mercury come as a result of the Ofcom regulation which enables local stations to co-locate and programme-share.

"These changes have meant Global Radio has had to make some brave decisions to protect the future of smaller stations which are currently loss-making.

"Local programming, such as breakfast and drive time shows, will remain and local news will be extended to on the hour throughout the day."

Global Radio released a statement saying £7 million will be invested in the 15 remaining stations, including Heart Sussex, formerly known as Southern FM.

Mercury began broadcasting on October 20, 1984 from Broadfield House and later moved to Kelvin Way, Manor Royal.

The station's charity appeal, initially known as Operation Santa, has raised more than £1.4 million over 25 years for local charities and voluntary groups.