AN East Lancashire-raised national radio presenter has become a queen of the airwaves after attracting record numbers of listeners to Radio Five's mid-morning show.

Victoria Derbyshire, who grew up in Turton, near Darwen, has boosted audience figures by 300,000 to achieve a record 1.88 million audience for the station according to figures published by leading industry body RAJAR.

The Lancashire lass who cites her "stroppiness" as her most endearing feature has managed to tempt more people to tune into her show at a time when radio audiences are dwindling with Radio One reporting losses of 230,000 listeners.

And today it was revealed that the mum-of-one believed the success of her phone-in show where people debate the issues of the day was her Northern sense of humour and no-nonsense approach to life.

The 37-year-old, who qualified in radio and TV journalism at Lancashire Polytechnic, joined Radio Five Live in 1998 where she co-presented, with Julian Worricker, on BBC Radio Five Live's early morning programme Five Live Breakfast.

In October 2003, it was announced that Victoria would move to the 9am to noon show beginning summer 2004.

But this latest recognition is not the first acclaim Victoria has achieved.

In 1999, she won the Television and Radio Industries Club Award for a Radio Programme BBC Radio Five Live's early morning programme Five Live Breakfast and a Sony Bronze Broadcaster of The Year Award in 2001.

Today she said: "I am enjoying a wonderful career if not the early starts!"

And she said despite a live run-in with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver earlier this week, her only bad on-air moment was "realising that the word Saskatchewan' was coming up in a script, and realising I didn't have a clue how to pronounce it."

l To catch Victoria's phone-in show tune into 909AM and 693AM between 9am and noon Monday to Friday.