A FAMILIAR wake-up call for thousands of Radio 4 listeners is to be axed after 30 years. The UK Theme has marked the 5.30am switchover from the World Service to Radio 4 since 1973 and BBC controllers accept that there will be protests about its disappearance for an extended shipping forecast.

The five-minute medley, honouring each of the four home countries, was arranged by Fritz Spiegl and includes snatches of Scotland the Brave, Men of Harlech and Londonderry Air.

Spiegl was an Austrian composer who fled his homeland before the start of the Second World War. His arrangement has developed a devoted BBC following since its first performance, thought to have been by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra in 1973.

Under changes to the morning broadcast schedule announced yesterday, Radio 4 will take to the airwaves ten minutes earlier, at 5.20am, with the extended shipping and in-shores waters forecast. A news briefing, which will include a newspaper review and look ahead to the day’s main stories, will follow at 5.30am.

Mark Damazer, the Radio 4 Controller, said he expected there to be some protest at the decision. “I know there are some people who will regret the passing of the UK Theme, but I believe the bulk of the audience will be better served by a pacy news briefing, read by one of Radio 4’s team of newsreaders.”

Last night, on BBC Two’s Newsnight, Jeremy Paxman, one of the corporation’s most senior broadcasters, said that he did not know what what Radio Four was playing at by dropping the UK Theme.

Farming Today and Prayer for the Day are not affected by the changes, which will begin in April. The exact list of tunes of the medley remained questionable last night. According to the BBC, the tunes on the medley are Rule Britannia, Early One Morning, Greensleeves, Men of Harlech, Scotland the Brave, What Shall We Do with a Drunken Sailor? and Londonderry Air; but Spiegl’s widow, Ingrid, said that Annie Laurie and Trumpet Voluntary were included.

The move to get rid of the medley is not the first time the BBC has attempted to dispense with theme tunes that have become institutions. In 1993 there was an attempt to halt the use of Sailing By, the tune played before the weather forecast before closedown. A huge popular outcry forced the BBC to scrap the plans.

Mrs Spiegl, speaking from her home in Liverpool, said of the UK Theme: “It’s an institution but nothing’s sacred,” she said last night. “Of course I would prefer it to stay. Fritz was under the illusion it would stay for ever. It does the job it was designed for — it unites the countries and it’s quite gentle. Apparently it’s being replaced with more news bulletins. We need that like a chocolate fireguard.”

She said she was relieved, however, that Radio 4 was not planning to replace it with a more populist tune.

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