Former radio presenter Eddie Austin has died.

He had previously been a pirate DJ before helping found Neptune Radio, which later became part of the KM Media Group's kmfm.

Mr Austin, 72, of Crabble Avenue, Dover, died last Thursday at the William Harvey Hospital in Ashford from pneumonia induced by Covid-19 and spread prostate cancer.

His friend and fellow broadcaster Ian Taylor told KentOnline: "He was one of those larger than life characters. He threw himself 100% into whatever he did."

Mr Austin ran his mobile Tiger Disco from the 1960s onwards in the Dover area.

In the 1970s he co-founded the inland pirate radio station, Channel Radio, broadcasting to Dover.

He also ran two nightclubs, the double venue Cinderella's and Snobs in Marina Esplanade in Ramsgate and Tonights in Dover Road, Folkestone.

Mr Austin and his group, South East Radio, successfully applied for licenses that led to the formation of Neptune Radio on September 29, 1997.

It was based in Church Street, Dover and became a permanent station for both the Dover and Folkestone areas, with Mr Austin as one of its full-time presenters.

This was a merger of two separate community radio stations that were on the air in the 1990s, the White Cliffs Sound for Dover and Shepway Sound for Folkestone.

Neptune was bought by the KM in 2001 and is now part of the kmfm network.

"Eddie Austin had survived the Boxing Day Tsunami..."

Neptune became a regular award winner, for example the Sony Radio Bronze Award in the talk/news category in 1998.

Mr Austin retired in 2003, from then spending his time between Malaysia and Dover.

Out in Malaysia he endured a series of dramas, surviving the Boxing Day Tsunami in 2004 and a severe earthquake the following April.

He was even stopped from returning home to Dover for a time last year following restrictions on travel because of coronavirus.

Eddie Austin was born on September 5, 1949.

He was a divorcee who leaves a daughter and son, Mrs Jeanine Woodbury and Chay Austin.

Funeral arrangements are to be confirmed.

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