HEART radio presenters in Barnstaple will lose their jobs in August — but a new North Devon station is already up and running.

All four of Heart's local presenters will be made redundant as part of the company's plans to merge stations in Devon.

They are Paul Hopper and James Chapple, who host the breakfast show, Suse Rolfe who presents the award-winning Drive Time show and local news reporter Louise Smith.

Their last day will be August 27, which will also mark the last broadcast from the Roundswell studios in Barnstaple.

No one from Heart in Barnstaple was available for comment.

But the Journal understands that staff members are under a "good conduct" agreement which prevents them from speaking to the press.

However, a new North Devon radio station has risen from the ashes of Heart's demise over the past week.

Following a Facebook campaign, which has attracted more than 1,700 listeners, former Lantern FM presenter Ian Starling, from Barnstaple, has launched an online station called Network North Devon.

The commercial station, which went live on Sunday, July 4, will feature local radio presenters, some of whom used to work at Heart and Lantern.

Ian, who worked at Lantern FM from 1994 to 2008, said: "Network North Devon is a temporary measure to rally support for a full community FM licence for North Devon.

"The online station will give us a base for moving forward to a full station, the application for which could take some time.

"In the meantime I'm trying to use as much local content from local volunteer DJs as possible."

Ian explained that he has already had a huge amount of support from the community in his pursuit of licensing a new FM frequency radio station.

He said: "I've had offers of financial backing, lots of businesses wanting to advertise and someone has even offered me office space at Roundswell.

"Seeing the close knit community of North Devon rally for a good cause is inspiring and makes me truly believe that we need our own local station for local people.

"I am in the process of applying for a full North Devon community radio licence from Ofcom but this will take some time. I'm hoping the Network North Devon will be the acorn from which a grand oak tree grows."

For more information or to listen online visit www.networknorthdevon.co.uk