A PIRATE radio station is blocking out the reception for BBC Radio 4, according to a disgruntled listener.

Illegal aerials placed on top of the Orange mobile phone mast at Hambro Hill, Rayleigh, are being blamed for the regular interference.

The listener, from Fairland Close, Rayleigh, said the pirates have been putting up aerials for the past five years.

He says they periodically get taken down, but now he fears Orange and broadcast regulator Ofcom have given up combating the problem, as an illegal aerial has been on top of the mast for several weeks.

The man said: “Over the past several months I’ve started investing in DAB radio to overcome the problem, making it possible to listen without all the garbage being pumped out by the pirates.

“In the kitchen I still have an FM radio and it’s very difficult to get a clean signal on BBC Radio 4. “The problem has been going on since 2005.”

He plans to raise it with Rayleigh MP Mark Francois, but fears little will happen and the public will have to pay for DAB sets.

He added: “Looking at the list of illegal broadcasts, my opinion it is now completely out of control and unless the punishments are greater there is no possibility of the problem ever being resolved.”

Echo investigations found Ofcom has not removed any pirate equipment from Hambro Hill since January 2010. It removed some from the site three times in 2009.

The last known removal by Orange was last September.

An Ofcom spokesman confirmed our photograph showed what appeared to be a pirate radio aerial.

He added it would be investigated, but officers only carry out inquiries in response to complaints and Ofcom had not received any about Hambro Hill since last October.

He added: “On October 18, in response to a complaint, an enforcement officer visited and no equipment was found.

“However, we take this matter extremely seriously and do try to clamp down on it.”

Orange failed to respond to a request to comment.