THE battle to win the right to run a commercial radio station for Northallerton and district has entered a critical stage.

Ofcom, the regulatory body governing UK broadcasters, has formally advertised the licence for the Northallerton station.

The new station will also be expected to serve Bedale and Thirsk, but the precise area covered will depend on where the transmitter is sited.

Ofcom has specifically excluded the Richmond area from the licence application.

Two groups have so far formally indicated they will bid for the licence, with at least one other consortium expected to enter the fray.

Northallerton Local Radio was the first group to conduct a trial 28-day broadcast in January 2004. It is backed by a group of local business people including Charles Barker, Greta Crow, Peter Scrope, Emma Sutcliffe, Mark Walker, Hugh Morgan Williams and Richard Whiteley.

NLR is supported by Newsquest North-East, publishers of the Darlington & Stockton Times. The editor of the D&S Times, Malcolm Warne, is a member of the NLR board.

NLR chairman David Kerfoot, of Bedale's The Kerfoot Group, said: "We have waited for this day for nearly two years.

"NLR is home-grown and will be the only truly local bid where the station is locally owned and managed."

Mr Kerfoot added: "If you look at our board and our backers, you can see the high level of local support for the style of independent local radio we will provide."

The Hambleton Radio group also carried out a series of trial broadcasts. The chairman of Hambleton Radio, Chris Parkin, said: "We're delighted that the licence has, at long last, been formally advertised.

"As the only group to run a trial service in Thirsk, as well as Northallerton, we'll now look to make sure Ofcom understands the importance of a station serving all the Hambleton district."

A third group expected to bid is Northallerton FM, headed by former Radio 1 DJ Mark Page.

Applications for the licence have to be submitted by early August and Ofcom will announce a decision in early October.

The licence gives the successful bidder the right to broadcast for 12 years.