LOCAL radio skipped to a different beat this morning as Heart was officially launched.

Replacing SGR Colchester on the same 96.1 FM frequency, Heart got under way at 6am this morning with two familiar voices, Wyatt Wendels and Natasha Sims from the breakfast team.

Following them at 10am, and new to Colchester listeners, will be former BBC Children’s presenter Toby Anstis, before regular presenters Nick Pandolfi and Jonathan Hemmings take over at 1pm and 4pm respectively.

Other new shows to the station include Matt Wilkinson’s Club Classics from 7pm to 10pm and Heartbreakers with Simon Beale from 10pm to 1am, which will play chilled-out tunes for listeners.

Along with Toby, another well-known personality broadcasting over the Colchester airwaves will be Jason Donovan, who hosts his own Sunday night show from 7pm to 10pm.

SGR Colchester became Heart following Global Radio’s takeover of G Cap last year.

Music manager and publisher Ashley Tabor, along with former Fame Academy judge and industry bigwig Richard Park, created the company quickly taking over Chrysalis, which owned the Heart brand.

Colchester programme controller Jonathan Hemmings said: “This is a very exciting day for Colchester as we launch our brand new radio station.

“We are thrilled to be part of this growing national brand and I think our listeners are going to really love what that will bring to their radio station.”