Radio Foyle's extended North West Today to air from Monday

Elaine McGee will host the one-hour programme from 08:00 to 09:00 on BBC Radio Foyle each weekday

BBC Radio Foyle's extended one-hour morning news programme will air for the first time on Monday morning.

North West Today is now set to air every weekday from 08:00 to 09:00.

The extension of the programme to an hour follows the successful completion of a pilot exercise carried out by journalists at the Londonderry-based station in October last year.

BBC News Northern Ireland confirmed that the launch of the extended programme will begin on 15 January.

A half-hour breakfast programme initially replaced Radio Foyle's previous two-hour programme in 2023 as part of schedule and programme changes.

The changes to the Foyle breakfast programme sparked protests from some politicians and community leaders in the north west.

North West Today will go on air each weekday from 08:00 to 09:00 from Monday 15 January

Some assembly members had previously expressed concerns that cuts to programmes on Foyle would turn it into "BBC Greater Belfast".

The BBC had said the move, which was part of efforts to save £2.3m and invest more money in online services, was to provide more digital news coverage and radio production from Foyle.

BBC Northern Ireland's head of news and current affairs Kevin Kelly said the extension of the morning programme would compliment and enhance digital output from the station.

'Highlighting local issues and concerns'

"This is a good news story for all our audiences in the north west, and shows our commitment to bringing local news that matters to people right across the area," he said.

"We are passionate about telling the story of the north west as widely as we can across all our output and this will also complement what we have been doing to enhance our digital news offering."

North West Today presenter Elaine McGee said the whole news team was thrilled to have the one hour duration going forward.

The presenter, who has been with the BBC since 2011, said the extension of the programme will allow more time to concentrate on the stories that matter most to listeners.

"The north west has so many stories to tell and we are looking forward to further strengthening the connection we have with our audience," Ms McGee said.

"It is a testament to their support that we now look forward to this new chapter for the news team at BBC Radio Foyle."

North West Today is available on BBC Radio Foyle and BBC Sounds, Mondays-Fridays from a new time of 08:00 to 09:00, starting Monday 15 January.