LISTENERS are not liking what they hear at BBC Radio York.

Controversial changes to the broadcaster's schedule have seen ratings dip significantly.

Last September the Diary revealed that Radio York was planning to reshuffle its line-up. Jonathan Cowap's popular weekday phone-in was first moved from 9am to lunchtime, before he took over the drivetime show at 5pm in October. Elly Fiorentini took over the 9am slot.

At the time, one listener, Janet Kitchen, wrote to the Evening Press to ask "Is this the end for Radio York?"

Not quite. But it's not good news for the station either.

Between September 2003 and March 2004, an average of 117,000 people tuned in to listen to Radio York every week. This was 24 per cent of the population in its area - the same as the year before.

By last December this had fallen to 93,000 listeners, which gave a "weekly reach" of 19 per cent.

And now the latest figures have been published by RAJAR, the company which measures radio audiences.

Between September 2004 and March 2005, Radio York's weekly listener figure dropped to 83,000. That is a reach of 17 per cent, the lowest in the station's 21 year history according to an industry source who has no connection to Radio York.

The loss of 34,000 listeners will have left staff at the Bootham Row station shellshocked. They were already reeling from news that five jobs are going, part of national BBC cutbacks.

No doubt beleaguered station boss Matt Youdale will also have an anxious eye on the future. These worrying figures do not take into account his more recent decision to change the weekend line-up, by axing both the Hurley Burley show and Jonathan Cowap's Sunday phone-in, and bringing in ex-Minster FM DJ James Watt.

This prompted a storm of protest. Will it see more listeners switch off?

LAST week we asked for examples of graffiti that made you smile. Many thanks to Marlene Ward of Selby, who wrote in with two examples seen on a special graffiti board in a York ladies public toilet.

"Needless to say," Mrs Ward writes, "the board was full."

Lavatorial humour number one: "My mother made me a homosexual", to which was scrawled the reply: "If I gave her the wool, would she knit me one?"

And number two:

"I woz here

"Here I woz

"Wos I here

"Coz I was."

Any more?

PROLIFIC correspondent Paul Willey is in touch to bemoan the loss of Eddie Vee from this year's General Election.

However, he thinks York's loss may be the universe's gain...

"Missing out this year may be a blessing in disguise as I firmly believe Mr Vee is going to be the next Dr Who and we all know politics and time travel don't mix.

"Think about it, he is as mad as a stoat, believes he is from a different planet, his audiences at his gigs resemble daleks and his head is like the Tardis, small in appearance but when the mouth opens and you see inside, bigger than space itself!"

Updated: 10:37 Tuesday, May 10, 2005