A purely local radio station for Sittingbourne has finally hit the airwaves.

It went live on 106.9FM at noon last Thursday when it was officially launched by the Mayor of Swale Cllr Pat Sandle and Gordon Henderson MP.

It took Sfm founder Pete Flynn nine years of campaigning before he was given a frequency by Ofcom allowing him to get the non-profit making project off the ground.

The volunteer-run station will broadcast live 24/7, 365 days a year from its new purpose-built studios at Crescent Hall, Central Avenue, Sittingbourne.

Presenters on air include Caesar The Boogieman, Nick Berry on the weekday breakfast show and Pete Flynn on drivetime.

Over the years, Mr Flynn has broadcast a number of trial programmes as well as taking Sfm on the road.

Then in February, 2010, he received the news that Ofcom had awarded a five-year community radio licence to the station.

The 46-year-old radio veteran, who has worked for Capital Gold, Talk Radio and Heart, said: "The launch went swimmingly.

"We’ve had lots of feedback from people wanting to get involved and we’ve got Caesar the Boogieman, who used to be on Invicta FM, back on the radio. His first show was on Sunday from 9pm to midnight.

It’s all going really well.

"We’ like to thank Knauf Drywall [at Ridham Dock] for helping us as they sounded proofed all the studios for us. It would have cost a substantial amount of money but they did it for us for free."

Sfm is still looking for volunteers who want to help run the service and they can be contacted via their website at www.sfmradio.com, or via Facebook at www.facebook.com/106.9SFM or Twitter at www.twitter.com/SFMRadio.