The presenter who landed Quidem with a licence breach for faking a competition contestant on Banbury Sound says it's an error he regrets.
Dale Collins – one of the original presenters on the Banbury trial broadcasts and a former shareholder of the station – got his teenage son on air using a false identity when the genuine caller pulled out.
We told you yesterday how Ofcom [link=https://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.6617]recorded a breach[/link] against the Banbury Sound licence, after owners Quidem contacted the regulator to own up to the incident.
Dale told RadioToday.co.uk: "Quizroads was one of the most popular features on the breakfast show and one week last October my pre-arranged contestant pulled out due to illness five minutes before it was due to go on air. With hindsight I should have postponed the competition till a replacement was found. However because of the popularity of the competition I decided to let my son play. He didn't manage to trouble the scoreboard but I should not have chosen a member of my own family to play."
"This is an error I now regret and though it doesn't seem a serious matter it was a clear break of Ofcom broadcasting code. They were correct to investigate thematter and I now have to deal with the consequences."
Collins was removed from the breakfast show last autumn, with rising star Lucy Jones now presenting the show on Banbury Sound.
Dale added: "Having been part of the team to save a local radio station for Banbury I am proud of what we did in the last few years and I always gave 100 percent all of the time. I believe that I helped many local events and people get publicity and contributed to many local charity success stories, including raising £800 in 15 minutes to provide a young girl with a new electric mobility bicycle."
Dale's break into radio was as part of the Banbury FM RSL team in 2001. He later did breakfast at Star FM in Gloucestershire, Rugby FM and Hereward FM, before joining the CN Group to launch Touch FM Banbury in 2006. CN had won the licence the year before, beating applicants including the original Banbury FM team. A management buyout, which Dale was part of, took over the station in 2009, before it was sold to Quidem last October, just weeks before the Quizroads matter arose.
Dale told us: "If I could turn back time I would have done things differently but sadly that is not possible. I am sure now that the new owners will now take the radio station from strength to strength and give it the long-term stability it needs."