A TEMPORARY radio station says it has won the approval of the people of Durham.

DLR (Durham Local Radio) 107 went on air for a month earlier this year as part of its preparations for a bid for a permanent licence.

The Radio Authority plans to give the city a local commercial station in 2005.

DLR 107 broadcast a mix of music, news and information and featured specialist music programmes in the evenings, including a country and western show hosted by Brian Clough, a photographer who works for The Northern Echo.

Durham Local Radio, backed by Laser Broadcasting, of Kent, says its research shows that after three weeks on air, 30 per cent of people had heard of the station, rising to 36.5 per cent of 20 to 40-year-olds.

The station says 11.7 per cent of adults tuned in, rising to 19 per cent of 20 to 40-year-olds. The most popular reasons given for listening were for music, news and local information. Football, cricket and rugby were the most popular sports covered.

"We are delighted to see these results," said DLR managing director Graham Courtney.

"They show that the people of Durham really liked what we were offering.

"Many people have been telling us that they really enjoyed our Durham coverage and these figures back this up.

"We will now use this research to fine tune our programming ready for when we are back on air in September."

The station's next month on air will also be under a temporary licence.