Radio ‘Oscars’ success for Darwen producer Liz

4:09pm Sunday 18th May 2008

Comments (4)   Have your say »

By Nafeesa Shan »

A RADIO producer from Darwen has scooped a prestigious award in the music industry version of the Oscars.

Liz Barnes, 32, who has a picture of Darwen Tower on her desk in London, was the co-producer on Planet Rock's "Fish on Friday" music show.

It won the silver award in the category of Music Broadcaster of the Year at the Sony Radio Academy Awards.

As a producer she also helped the station win the gold award for Digital Station of the Year and a bronze prize in the Multi Platform Award for their Led Zeppelin month.

The ceremony which took place at at London's Grosvenor House Hotel on Monday night also saw awards go to Jonathan Ross, Chris Moyles and Russell Brand.

Liz, who was brought up in Tockholes and in Beech Grove, Darwen, is a former pupil at St Edward's Primary School in Darwen and St Bede's High School in Blackburn.

She did a postgraduate diploma in broadcast journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, and started her career at the Burnley radio station 2BR, moving to BBC Radio Cumbria, and then BBC 6 Music before becoming a producer on Planet Rock in 2005.

She said: "I've always wanted to be involved in music and doing something creative.

"To win is really nice.

"It's taken a lot of hard work but it's nice to find a job that I enjoy. It doesn't feel like work.

"I think the secret to our success is having a small, dedicated and passionate team."

On Saturday Liz was flown to the Cannes Film Festival on the Iron Maiden tour jet, by lead singer Bruce Dickinson who flew the plane.

But she says that despite flings with the rock and roll lifestyle, she will remain true to her Darwen roots.

She added: "I still visit Darwen quite regularly.

"My parents still live there as does my oldest friend.

"I will never forget my roots. I've even got a picture of Darwen Tower on my desk in London."

Liz's father, Brian Barnes, of Beech Grove, Darwen, said he and her mum Ellie were "very proud" of her achievements.

He said: "It's really well deserved. She has always been dedicated and is pretty knowledgeable about music."

A spokeswoman for the Sony Awards said: "There are so many entries in each category. It really is a great acheivement.

"The levels are so high that picking gold, silver and bronze is very difficult."

Planet Rock is a national DAB digital station with 563,000 listeners per week.

The Sony Awards are in their 25th year, attracting over 1,500 entries for 31 different award categories.