§ Mr. Hurdasked the Assistant Postmaster-General the extent of the area of which the Newbury and Hungerford district is part where the reception of the British Broadcasting Corporation Home Service in hours of darkness is bad owing to interference with the weak signals received; how many holders of radio licences are affected; and what would be the cost of a relay station to give this area a satisfactory service.
§ Mr. GammansThe British Broadcasting Corporation informs me that the trouble is confined to a small area on the8W borders of Berkshire, Wiltshire and Hampshire. The Corporation cannot be more precise because atmospheric conditions are not stable, and different areas may be affected at different times. For the same reason it is difficult to assess the number of licence holders who have poor reception of the Home Service programme at night.
The Corporation regrets that it is not possible to adopt my hon. Friend's suggestion of a relay station, as the transmitter would need to use a wavelength already in use elsewhere, and there would be mutual interference in "mush" areas. A separate wavelength is not available since our allocation of medium wavelengths under the international plan agreed at Copenhagen in 1948 is fully used by the existing stations. In these circumstances a relay station would probably cause more harm than good.