THE new Belfast-based owner of local radio station Tower FM is to overhaul the company in a shake-up of its local station network.

Ulster Television bought Tower FM and 15 other local radio stations when it acquired The Wireless Group (TWG) for £98.2 million in June.

The TV firm is to conduct a review of each station over the next nine months, and plans to invest cash in an "underperforming" network.

John McCann, chief executive of UTV, said that he was not disappointed with the condition of The Wireless Groups local network. But he added: "I would have been unhappy if I had seen something working perfectly and had nothing to bring to it.

"The fact is that there is a job of work to do."

UTV announced that it would attempt to boost its local network by taking a 50 per cent stake in The Local Radio Company, a national advertising sales house, in a deal worth £500,000.

Tower FM, based on Brownlow Way, Bolton, began broadcasting in 1990 as Bury Sound.

The station was granted various restricted service licences, usually for one month at a time, before receiving a full licence from the Radio Authority to serve Bolton and Bury in 1999.