Radio Caroline seeks Ofcom licence for Essex and Suffolk

The ship-based pirate station Radio Caroline has applied for an AM waveband licence from Ofcom

Radio Caroline has applied for its first permanent AM waveband licence.

Peter Moore, who runs the ship-based broadcaster wants to broadcast from its ship MV Ross Revenge on the River Blackwater in Essex.

The application, to Ofcom, coincides with the 50th anniversary of the law that made the "pirate" station illegal.

Radio Caroline was founded in 1964 to play pop music and continued to broadcast until it was shipwrecked off the Kent coast in 1991.

The proposed AM signal would serve Essex and Suffolk, an area catered for by the station in its early years.

For more on this and other stories from Essex

The 1967 Marine Broadcasting Offences Act rendered Radio Caroline, which broadcast from international waters, an illegal (pirate) station

The 1967 Marine Broadcasting Offences Act rendered Radio Caroline, which broadcast from international waters, an illegal - or pirate - station.

Mr Moore said he hoped to hear the outcome of the application next year, which will be the 50th anniversary of the 1967 act.

Radio Caroline currently operates as an internet and digital radio station.

An Ofcom spokesman confirmed an application from Radio Caroline was being reviewed.