A LEEDS radio station celebrating a renewed licence and a move to new premises was forced off air after burglars stole its dual transmitters. Listeners to community station Radio Asian Fever – which was recently grantedanew fiveyear licence from Ofcom after a successful first five years–were faced with dead air for a whole daywhenthieves stole its equipment from its site at Potternewton heights. Two portable transmitters and a receiver, worth around £9,000, were taken during the break-in at the tower block in Potternewton Way at just before 1am on Tuesday. A second temporary radio station, Islam FM, which has been operating from the same building during the month of Ramadan, remained off air today. Station manager Jabbar Karim said: “The radio went down suddenly at just before 1am. We thought it was a power surge but when I went to check the building, the lights were still on. “I went down to the site and both transmitters and the equipment had gone. They are big portable amplifiers, they unplugged the cables and carried them out. “We got back on air at 7pm on Wednesday but IslamFMis still off air.” Police confirmed an investigation was under way following a suspected break-in at the tower block. A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said investigators were working with North East Homes, the owners of the site, and CCTV was currently being examined. The station, based in Roundhay Road, recently won a brand new licence from Ofcom to allow it to continue broadcasting for another five years. At the same time, the team was celebrating moving to its first custom-built studio just a few doors down from its old studio above a shop in Roundhay Road. Mr Karim, who trains novice DJs, many from underprivileged backgrounds, said earlier that the move was “a dream come true”. The station’s output combats under-epresentation of ethnic minorities in the broadcast media and tries to improve community relations by celebrating South Asian culture and bringing it into the mainstream. Witnesses can call 0845 6060606.
