A former Fairlie man and radio DJ is helping to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the original Radio Scotland, writes Drew Cochrane.

Tony Meehan, who did shows on pirate station Radio Scotland, is to take part in a special golden anniversary show on New Year's Day.

It was on January 1, 1966, that Radio Scotland began broadcasting on 242 medium wave from a ship, the Comet, in the sea off Dunbar.

When former Labour Postmaster General Tony Benn closed pirate radio down after 20 months, the ship moved around, including off the Ayrshire coast to stay on the air, playing pop music.

Tony, who moved last year to Dorset in England, told the 'News': "The pirate radio stations of the 60s led to the introduction of Radios 1 and 2 by the BBC, and commercial stations like Radio Clyde and, later, Westsound. As such they are recognised as the forerunners of today's commercial and BBC music stations.

He said: "To recognise and pay tribute to this achievement Scotland 69AM.com will broadcast new shows, hosted by seven of the pirate DJs who will tell their stories and play music for eight hours."

Tony will be one of the broadcasters, beginning on New Year's Day. He is one of the founders of Scotland 69AM which is an award-winning internet station reaching 190 countries globally.

The former local resident, who has a professorship in public relations, having run the successful TM company in Glasgow for decades, is the administrator of the Kelburn Windfarm Trust.