Fans of the soothing sounds of a Norfolk dawn chorus are in a flap after reports that a birdsong broadcast is flying the nest. Birdsong Radio claims its listener figures have been 'devastated' after it was announced earlier this week that the similarly-named Radio Birdsong is being axed from DAB radio.

Fans of the soothing sounds of a Norfolk dawn chorus are in a flap after reports that a birdsong broadcast is flying the nest.

Birdsong Radio claims its listener figures have been 'devastated' after it was announced earlier this week that the similarly-named Radio Birdsong is being axed from DAB radio.

Some media reports claimed that Birdsong Radio, which features a recording of a Breckland dawn chorus, was the station being dropped - prompting a flurry of concerned emails and a massive dip in listeners.

Andrew Flintham, who made the recording of Norfolk birds, said he was keen to put the record straight and assure fans that Birdsong Radio is still available online.

It is not associated with Radio Birdsong, which featured a 20-minute loop of birds singing in chorus and had been available on DAB radio for the past 18 months until its calming tweets and twitterings were dropped in favour of commercial music.

'It's gone around the country that Birdsong Radio is off the air and our listener figures have just dropped like a stone,' said Mr Flintham.

'The station features a 70-minute dawn chorus without any editing. It is no longer possible to make recordings like that because of background noise from road traffic, planes and military aircraft.

'Our aim is to promote wildlife. A lot of people are isolated from nature in their triple-glazed homes in cities and some have never even heard a dawn chorus. It is a great pleasure to listen to.'

The online station has more than 1,700 followers on, appropriately, Twitter, the social-networking and micro-blogging site.

The news that birdsong was being silenced prompted an outcry among fans of the DAB station, who flooded forums and websites with calls to have the programme reinstated.

It is estimated that half a million listeners regularly enjoyed the 20-year-old birdsong recording which had been captured at the Wiltshire garden of the station's creator, radio executive Quentin Howard.