Mark Lamarr has launched a broadside at BBC Radio 2 ahead of his departure this Christmas, claiming the station had lost interest in non-mainstream music and made his position "extremely uncomfortable".
Lamarr decided to leave the station which he joined 12 years ago after a request to move to an earlier timeslot was refused by the Radio 2 controller, Bob Shennan.
The DJ, in an email to friends and colleagues, said: "It's become obvious over the last year the station has become much less interested in non-mainstream music, and my position there has been extremely uncomfortable.
"It's a sign of the times I suppose. I'm stupidly proud of the shows I've done there for 12 years and I know I always did the right thing. I'm equally sure I'm doing the right thing now. Not looking for sympathy, or another job, or even a reply. Just letting you know."
Lamarr, whose Radio 2 work included Shake, Rattle and Roll, Mark Lamarr's Alternative '60s and a late-night Friday show, was among the first of a new breed of presenters who helped transform the appeal of Radio 2 from the late 1990s and make it the country's most popular radio station.
Shennan countered Lamarr's claims, saying the station's music offering had "never been stronger, more diverse or more popular".
"Next year we have plans to broaden it still further with more genres and new presenters," said Shennan. "It is a unique and distinctive station. I'm sorry Mark is leaving at Christmas. He wanted an earlier slot and decided that he would leave when that request was not granted. We wish him well and the door is never closed."
But there was support for Lamarr from other BBC radio DJs past and present. Fellow Radio 2 DJ Bob Harris said Lamarr's shows were "two of the best programmes on the radio" and reprinted the DJ's email on his website.
Former BBC 6 Music presenter Phill Jupitus said his departure was "something that, as a lover of music and radio buff, I had always hoped would never happen".
Jupitus added: "For the past 12 years Mark has delivered an exciting and varied mix of sounds which while they were often recorded anything up to 80 years ago, sound as fresh and as vital as they did the day that they were recorded.
"With the loss of Charlie Gillet and John Peel this leaves BBC music radio's commitment to fringe artists in a poorer state. But as someone who left the BBC for similar reasons. I can understand.
"There are four shows to go. Listen. You may not hear radio like it again."
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