Britain gets new Polish radio station

LONDON, Nov 13 (Reuters) The British capital has its first 24-hour digital radio station targeting the hundreds of thousands of Poles who have come to Britain since their country joined the European Union in 2004.

Polskie Radio Londyn caters specifically to the large Polish community in London and is the first Polish radio station in Britain to broadcast over the air as well as on the Internet, a spokesman for the station said yesterday.

''The main aim is to build bridges between the Polish and British communities. I want to show the Poles that there is much more to do in London than go to Polish concerts and parties,'' said Szymon Piatek, 26, the new station's founder.

The new radio station, available since last month on London's digital network and since 2006 online, is part of a business run by Poles based in Britain which also includes a magazine in Polish.

An estimated 2 million Poles have left Poland since the country joined the European Union in 2004, seeking higher wages in countries such as Ireland and Britain.

Although British government figures released in May say some 400,000 Poles have come to work in Britain since 2004, the Polish community estimate that number could be as high as 1 million.

REUTERS CS KP0954