A RADIO station in the Maldon district has a new name.

Community radio station Saint FM, which first began broadcasting in 1999, has been renamed Crystal Radio, which will begin airing in 2019.

The change follows a competition to rename the station that brought in more than 120 entries, taking place in June.

Ideas came in from local schools, shops, residents, politicians and station volunteers, with the winner offered the prize of having a radio studio named after them.

Saint FM ceased broadcasting in April ahead of preparation for a new, larger Ofcom licence.

Runner-up names included Rivermouth, Marshland, and other quirky ideas including Screw-Loose, Problem Child and Ha-Harrr.

Crystal Radio was proposed by an anonymous competition entrant who asked, should the suggestion win, for the studio to be named after the late Jo Flack, one of the original presenters on Saint FM who sadly died in 2015.

The radio station’s board of directors was unanimous in declaring Crystal Radio the winner and agreeing to name a studio after Mrs Flack.

Mrs Flack’s son Chris Flack said: “We think this would be a wonderful idea. Thank you for thinking about my mum. I am sure she would be very honoured."

Finance Director and competition organiser Roger Barcroft said: “Crystal Radio was chosen because of its reference to crystalline sea salt, the district’s most famous product. It also alludes to the district’s maritime heritage – saltmarsh, salty tidal rivers and the sea.

“The final persuading factor was that the name references the local origins of radio, which was born in nearby Chelmsford – crystal radio sets being a common way of tuning into the airwaves back in the day.

“Local history, oral history especially, is going to be an important part of the new station.”

The name Crystal Radio was additionally chosen as it would be simple to illustrate. Spurred on by the success of the renaming campaign, the radio is considering further competitions for logos and jingles in the near future.

The radio aims to be a fun station full of news, chat, music, arts and drama that aims to become a creative community hub.

It will be teaming up with the Facebook pages Burnham Juicy Gossip and Maldon Juicy Gossip, and plans to have two new studios, with one in Maldon along with its Burnham HQ.