THE PLUG has been pulled on three DIY DJs broadcasting a pirate radio station.

Ross Jacobs, 23, of Lullingstone Avenue, Swanley, was sentenced to 150 hours community punishment and ordered to pay £150 costs for his role in the trio's two-year illegal reign of airwaves.

Ring-leader Lee Grant of Southwood Road, New Eltham, and 32-year-old Seth Clark of Woodside Avenue, Wembley, also admitted charges in connection with broadcasting the Soundz pirate station.

The threesome hijacked a Vodafone mast in West Hill Dartford to broadcast their shows.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Soundz did not interfere with emergency services wavebands-unlike some pirate radio stations.

Jacobs, Grant and Ross pleaded guilty to installing apparatus for wireless telegraphy. Grant, 22, also admitted his part in the daily running of Soundz between January 2002 and May this year and transmitting without a licence.

The three were arrested in a joint operation between police and the Radio Communications Agency.

Clark waited for Jacobs and Grant as they scaled the fence and climbed the mast on Friday, May 16, ready for their next broadcast.

Jacobs became involved in the scheme after he met Grant though his work.

A truncheon and metal bars were found at the site after the three were arrested.

But they claimed the weapons were for protection after a gang of rival radio pirates robbed them of their equipment at gunpoint.

The rivals had also been responsible for the damage to the mast to force others away from it, the trio claimed.

The defendants were found not guilty of damaging the mast and abstracting electricity.

Lawyers for the three said they had wrongly used their enthusiasm and skills.

Grant will pay £250 costs and sentence to two-year conditional community rehabilitation order. Clark was ordered to pay £100 costs and 80 hours community punishment.

The maximum penalty for running a pirate station is two years jail and unlimited fines.