Proposed cuts to BBC Radio Suffolk will hit older listeners particularly hard - and will seriously damage its work in the community.
That's the warning from local radio legend Lesley Dolphin, who retired from the afternoon show in July after working for the station since it launched in 1990. She spent the last 14 years as the voice of the afternoon show.
Earlier this week the BBC announced that budget cuts would force stations to only broadcast local for eight hours a day during the week - from 6am to 2pm.
After then they would broadcast a regional service - roughly equating to the Look East area ranging from Suffolk and Norfolk to the south of Essex to as far west as Milton Keynes and Northampton.
Regional programmes will also be broadcast at weekends, but from 2pm on Sunday and every night from 10pm-6am there will be a national service.
The only exception will be sports coverage when a local football team is playing.
The BBC is investing more in digital services and developing new investigation teams as part of the changes.
The level of cuts to local radio surprised BBC staff who knew changes were coming - they had expected to share more content with BBC Radio Norfolk but had not expected the widespread regionalisation.
Ms Dolphin said: "Local radio has a very important role in supporting communities - and you can't get that at a wider regional level. What interest do Suffolk people have in Milton Keynes?
"Community becomes more important as families grow up and people listen to local radio more when they reach their 40s, 50s, 60s, and 70s.
"I know the BBC has to make savings and I know it is investing more in digital which appeals to younger listeners.
"That does make it look as if older listeners are being sacrificed."
Ms Dophin's afternoon show had the highest listening figures in the country.
She said: "I would meet people who told me how important our programmes were in bringing communities together.
"That was particularly true during the Covid lockdowns when so many people were on their own and local radio had an important role in allowing them to talk together."
The changes are expected to start to be introduced around Easter next year - and the East of England is due to be the first region in the country to have the new set-up.
Ipswich MP Tom Hunt raised the threat to BBC Radio Suffolk during an emergency question in the House of Commons.
He said: "I think that BBC Radio Suffolk is, per head of population, the most listened to in the country.
"I am glad that we will be spared the indignity of Ipswich Town fans hearing detailed team news from Norwich City; that, at the very least, has been eliminated.
"Will the Minister confirm that in the move towards digitalisation, older listeners will be taken into account, as they disproportionately rely on and listen to BBC Radio Suffolk and are among its greatest fans?"
He also questioned the salaries paid to some BBC stars.
Media minister Julia Lopez said: "He rightly highlights there are very healthy listening figures for BBC local radio stations and particularly among older listeners. These are the people public sector broadcasters are there to serve."
She added it was important that the BBC prepares for the digital age - but it should not forget its core audience such as local radio listeners.
Mr Hunt said afterwards it was clear that the government did not approve of the planned cuts - and neither did MPs from across the House of Commons.
Ipswich Labour candidate Jack Abbott has written to the head of BBC England saying: "To be blunt, if the BBC were to push ahead with these plans, it would hollow out the BBC’s local radio stations, diminish their purpose and distinctiveness, and leave listeners with a much poorer offer than before.
"People listen to BBC Radio Suffolk and other 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? Why, in short, would people choose to tune in any longer?"
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