Last week the Daily Echo revealed how four of Radio Solent's best-loved presenters left the station in a controversial shake-up to win back listeners.

Radio Solent boss Mia Costello then found herself at the centre of a row over ageism following a leaked memo in which she ordered staff not to put on air callers who sounded more than 65.

The station manager was criticised for her comments after saying she didn't particularly want to hear very old voices on air.

Today Mia Costello appeared on the station's breakfast show to defend herself and now explains to Echo readers the reasons for that memo and the changes to the Radio Solent line-up that has sparked outrage among listeners

Firstly, let me set the record straight. People over 65 are always welcome on BBC Radio Solent. They always have been and they always will be.

Nothing has changed, despite what you might have read. Indeed BBC Local Radio is one of very few services that consciously sets out to cater for the over-50 radio audience. The only criteria for getting on air is that you have something interesting to say.

So what of that leaked memo where I said that I didn't want to hear really elderly voices?

I'm sorry that this caused offence and I can see why people are angry. I want to apologise. This was never my intention. Out of context this sounds terribly dramatic, but in context, it was a form of shorthand on an internal document following a staff meeting where we'd discussed the appeal of our programmes.

To those not at the meeting, it suggested something far from what I was trying to convey.

I was instructing my staff to avoid the stereotypes of old age. I wanted them to recognise that being over 65 in 2006 is vastly different from being that age when BBC Radio Solent started in 1971.

Diverse Today's over-65s are as diverse as any other age group, with an incredibly wide range of interests; the first to try out the latest gadgets, to suss out the delights of Prague or to know where to buy green washing powder. They're often the bedrock of family life, faced with all the joys and challenges that brings with it. And we need programming that reflects all of this.

For some time now listeners have been telling me the station sounds too staid. Not our younger listeners but, in fact, our over-65s.

Some of them have been tuning away, and as managing editor it's my job to find out why and try to bring them back.

What they want, they tell me, are stories that reflect their lives now, in 2006. So, yes we must cover stories of having to sell the family home to pay for care, and changes in the retirement age, but we must also be covering the latest in beauty products or flat screen TVs.

That's why you'll hear all these stories covered on BBC Radio Solent, with contributions from interested parties, whatever their age.

What of the changes to the schedules? Well, the press interpretation of this has particularly saddened me as there is no truth, whatsoever, in any of our presenters leaving us because of their age.

In fact, our Topsoil presenter Pippa Greenwood is in her mid-40s - and the presenters who began their new shows last weekend range in age across three decades!

They're not untried, green things straight from radio school, but experienced, respected broadcasters who have already proved their worth on air in both radio and TV over many years.

The outgoing presenter, Peter White is a fantastic broadcaster, admired and loved by everyone he worked with, including me. But listeners told us that the nature of his show was not quite right for a busy Saturday morning. Had Peter been available at other times - he works full-time for the BBC during the week in London - there might have been a more appropriate slot for him. So no one is saying that Peter will never be heard on Solent again.

In September, I sat down with my friend and colleague Richard Cartridge to discuss his future. We both agreed it was time for change, for Solent and for him. When he leaves us in the New Year I know he will go on to great things, probably earning loads of money sounding like Roger Moore on voice-overs!

He has some exciting plans and everyone at Solent wishes him the very best with them and will miss him immensely. But he recognises life moves on and nobody benefits from doing the same thing forever.

Last week, a listener said to me, If it ain't broke don't fix it!', but nowadays, good organisations don't wait for things to break.

They constantly review and develop the way they do things, whether it is Tesco, the BBC or the indeed the Daily Echo.

If they didn't, you'd still be buying your groceries over the counter, listening to announcers with posh voices, in dinner jackets, and reading this newspaper printed off hot metal with no colour photos. Staff at BBC Radio Solent understand this too, which is why we constantly review the way we do things.

You, the audience, have made this station what it is. I hope you can continue to place your trust in us over the years to come.

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