THE battle for Kendal and Windermere's airwaves reached a peak this week when the deadline for bids to run the area's new local radio station closed on Tuesday.

After months of careful planning, research and consultation, two groups submitted their packages of proposals for the independent local radio licence to the government-appointed Radio Authority.

Lakes FM and Mint FM were fine-tuning what they hoped would be the winning formula right up to the deadline.

It is anticipated that the Radio Authority, which manages the commercial radio sector for the government, will announce its final decision early in the New Year.

The licence on offer will last for eight years, providing a service on the FM waveband, transmitting from sites in Kendal and Windermere to a potential audience of 45,000 adults.

As well as covering Kendal and Windermere, and surrounding areas, the new station would reach Ambleside and Newby Bridge - overlapping directly with part of the area already covered by Lancaster-based radio station The Bay.

The company which owns The Bay, the CN Group, is backing Westmorland Radio Ltd's bid, but Stephen Oates, managing director at The Bay, acknowledged that whichever group was successful for the licence would be in "head to head" competition with his station.

"There is increasing competition as more stations come onto the dial, and in some ways that has got to be a good thing, if it makes us more responsive to our audience," he said.

He added that The Bay also covered Lancaster, Morecambe, Barrow and the Lune Valley, and that the new station would be focusing on Kendal and Windermere, so would be offering something different.

Non-commercial BBC stations Radio Cumbria and Radio Lancashire also both broadcast in the area.

The decision to offer a new frequency for the locality was announced earlier in the year, after months of lobbying from prospective applicants, and following two test broadcasts from Lakes FM.

"Radio spectrum is a scarce resource, and there are always more people wanting to run a radio stations than there are frequencies available," explained Radio Authority press officer Miss McCatty.

"The decision to offer up a new frequency has to be taken very carefully."

Only once it has been established that there is a frequency available for the locality, and that the area could support another service, does an area get put on a prioritised working list.

Earlier in the year, the licence was advertised in The Westmorland Gazette with bidders given three months to submit their application.

Radio Authority members, who are appointed by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Chris Smith, now have to decide which of the two proposed services will:

l best cater for the tastes and interests of the local community

l broaden listener choice

l provide a sound financial plan to sustain the service for the eight-year licence period

Members of the public also get the chance to make their views known.

Copies of both licence applications will be sent out to libraries in Kendal and Windermere for people to view.

Comments should be sent to the Director of Development, radio Authority, Holbrook house, 14 Great Queen Street, London, WC2B 5DG before Monday, January 8.