The airwaves will fall silent at midnight tonight (Friday) when the month-long trial of west Wiltshire's Moonraker FM comes to an end.

Broadcasting from Wiltshire College Trowbridge, the station has been live 24 hours a day since March 6.

The trial is part of an application for a full-time licence and station managers are now planning to submit an application to the radio regulator Ofcom.

Station manager Jonathan Hewat said: "Moonraker has been a phenomenal success.

"One of our listeners set up a petition on the web and people have been flocking to the site to add their names to those wanting a full-time permanent local station for Trowbridge, Melksham, Calne, Chippenham, Corsham and all the other towns and villages in the area.

"The more support written and or e-mailed we can get, the better our chances of becoming a permanent full-time station."

Station sponsor ASDA held outside broadcasts at the supermarket during the trial and a holiday for two to Greece was given away by Howard Travel when listeners were asked to come up with a new slogan for the station.

Ian Pugh, chief executive of the Moonraker Radio Group, said: "It isn't easy to persuade Ofcom to decide that an eight-year permanent licence is genuinely needed, which is why we are keen to have community groups and business people to write letters of support. We really do need this ammunition."

The web address for the petition is www.supportmoonraker.tk