A POPULAR radio DJ who lost his job will return to the airwaves.

Tom Evans has announced he will be joining the team at BBC Sussex, covering a variety of programmes in the weeks ahead including presenting on the afternoon show and spending a fortnight on BBC Sussex Breakfast.

The DJ was one third of the Heart Sussex breakfast team which presented its final show in May after the owners Global made the decision to replace 14 of its breakfast shows with just one, broadcast from London.

This new show is presented by Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston.

The station in Portslade was also moved to Fareham.

Ashley Tabor, founder and executive president of Global, said the move would help it compete with BBC Radio 1 and 2.

He told RadioToday: “Whilst the new deregulation will mean some significant changes at an operational level, these bold steps enable Global to lead the way in launching the UK’s three largest national commercial radio breakfast shows.”

But since the team of three hosted their final show, there has been a widespread outcry from listeners across Sussex for the popular trio, made up of Tom, Nicola Hume and Jack Hayes, to be reinstated.

A petition to “save Tom, Nic and Jack on Heart Sussex” called their cancellation a “travesty” and has received widespread support, having been signed more than 10,000 times.

But on July 2 Tom put up a cryptic photo of the BBC Sussex offices online with the caption: “New home for a while, coming soon.”

 

Now it has been confirmed that he will be joining the BBC Sussex team.

Tom said: “I’m thrilled to be joining BBC Sussex and I’m really looking forward to getting back into the studio after some time off.

“I love broadcasting to this part of the world and to be doing so on the BBC is really exciting.

“I can’t wait to get started and it’s going to be lots of fun so make sure you tune in.”

Mark Carter, assistant managing editor at BBC Sussex, praised the radio station’s latest recruit.

He said: “Tom lives in Sussex and loves the county.

“He’s proved to be an extremely popular presenter with the local audience over the past few years, so I’m delighted to offer this opportunity of a return to the airwaves.”

Tom’s first show on BBC Sussex will be on Monday, July 29 between 12pm and 4pm.