THE Radio Authority yesterday re-awarded the independent local radio

licence for Stirling and Falkirk to the existing operator, Central FM

Limited. The station, which claims a weekly audience of 50,000, will be

allowed to broadcast to a wider area once the authority has obtained

clearance for a new frequency and a more powerful transmitter. The

announcement, securing the company's future until 2003, will be followed

today by news of the winner of a much bigger broadcasting plum, the new

franchise covering the whole of the central belt.