Radio Ulster named top station

Good Morning Ulster presenters Seamus McKee, Wendy Austin and Conor Bradford

BBC Radio Ulster has won a prestigious UK-wide radio industry award.

It was named Station of the Year in the category for stations with more than one million listeners at a ceremony in London on Thursday.

The awards are seen as the Oscars of the British radio industry, honouring the best in presenting and music, as well as news, community broadcasting and dramas.

Commercial stations Heart 106.2 and Key 103 were also nominated in the category.

BBC Northern Ireland controller Anna Carragher said the award was a "fantastic tribute" to all involved.

"The rich mix of news, current affairs, music, chat and local information on the station continues to prove extremely popular with our listeners, who have a real sense that this is their radio station, interested in their local community and in touch with their lives," she said.

Figures released on Thursday by RAJAR (Radio Audience Joint Research) from January to March 2003 showed that Radio Ulster is Northern Ireland's most popular radio station, with more than 500,000 listeners each week.