Ronnie’s reprieve is a hit with his fans

Ronnie Barbour, who presents The Other One Show in the afternoons, was set to leave the station next month as part of BBC budget cuts. But he will now remain on-air until at least April.

The corporation says its local radio proposals, which are currently out for public consultation, will help it make savings of £600 million and protect peak time programmes, which attract the biggest audiences.

Axed programmes could be replaced with region-wide broadcasts, it says.

Mr Barbour announced his contract extension Saturday via his Twitter feed on Saturday, after a Facebook campaign was launched by his fans, who encouraged people to respond to the consultation.

It has been reported that the BBC is now expected to scale back its local radio cuts, following uproar amongst listeners.

The campaigners had the support of South West Beds MP Andrew Selous, who said he was hoping attend a debate on the cuts in the House of Commons today (Thursday).

He said: “I’m a big fan of BBC Three Counties, it’s an excellent radio station. It’s very informative and the presenters are very friendly and approachable.

“Anything that builds up communities is really important because we are in danger of becoming a more atomised society with more people living on their own, families splitting up and people not knowing their neighbours.

“But the cuts are not being made because the government is being mean. No-one ever wants to make cuts but we have seen what happens when countries lose control of their economies.”