Community radio station Vectis Radio has increased its signal strength with a little help from Island Roads.

Following full technical clearance from the regulator Ofcom, Vectis Radio has installed a new transmitter which has extra power to improve the station’s coverage to many of the outlying areas of Newport.

Station Manager Ian Mac said: “As a coastal station, it was necessary to get international approval from Ofcom for our power increase and although this arrived earlier in the year, lockdown stopped us progressing any further for the time being.

“But as we emerged from the pandemic restrictions we were keen to get things moving again and we were delighted that Island Roads agreed to donate a cherry picker to help us finally get the new transmitter up and running.”

“Without their support we would have struggled – they stepped in to enable us to get the job done.”

Director Kelvin Currie said: “I am pleased to say the new aerial and transmitter was installed with minimum fuss. There was inevitably some interruptions to our FM Broadcasts whilst the upgrade took place, but fortunately we were able to keep these to a minimum.”

Island Roads powered apparatus manager Scott Burborough said: “As a company we are used to keeping people well-connected at ground level but were pleased to do our bit to help Vectis Radio link up communities via the airwaves.”