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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Humberside Breakfast Show presenter Andy Comfort is getting on his bike to celebrate the station's 40th birthday and raise much-needed cash for charity.

Andy will be joined by colleagues Adam Barber and Stuart Deakin who plan to cycle about 40 miles a day over five days for the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Candle Appeal, which raises money for St Andrew's Hospice in Grimsby.

The ride will start in Grimsby and end at Radio Humberside in Hull on the date of the birthday – Friday 25 February.

Managing editor Simon Pattern said: "The station has been at the heart of the community for the last 40 years and what better way to celebrate than by raising money for a hugely important charity within our community.

"We also have lots of special programming on air during the week of the birthday including a special documentary that tells the station's story through use of its extensive audio archive and interviews with former members of staff and the people who were at the heart of major stories in the station's patch during the four decades.

"We're also bringing back a team of past presenters (Gloria Johnson, Martin Plenderleith and Peter Adamson) to take on a team of the current staff in a light-hearted quiz looking back at the ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Humberside years."

³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ local radio was the brainchild of the late Frank Gillard. In 1967 he was responsible for opening the first raft of local stations – Leicester, Sheffield and Merseyside. It was his dream to see them in every city, not as "amplified juke boxes" but offering modern radio journalism geared to the interests of the local community.

Radio Humberside formed part of that early wave of stations, coming on air on 25 February 1971 and broadcasting from studios above the old Post Office in Chapel Street.

The first Station Manager was John Cordeaux and its first team of presenters included Fiona Cowan, Robin Pulford, Paul Heiney (who went on to That's Life), Ian Hunter, David Eggleston and Jill Ward.

Over its four decades, the station has grown other names that became bedrocks of the local broadcasting scene – Peter Adamson (famous for his Soapboax phone-in), Judi Murden – one of the station's longest serving broadcasters... and who is still regularly on air now. We should also mention the late Mike Hurley; he became a regular fixture on Saturday mornings and people still talk with great affection about his pigeon racing news!

The station has been there for coverage of major events in the East Riding and northern Lincolnshire: Flixborough, Lockington, the floods of 2007 and of course, the opening of the Humber Bridge.

The station pre-dated the county council of the same name (by some years) and was there to report on its demise after local voices complained about it.

Radio Humberside moved to its current home at Queen's Court in 2004 and as a result is broadcasting from a purpose-built digital production centre, backed by a fully operational studio in Grimsby and a team of reporters working from bases in Hull, Grimsby and Bridlington.

AB2