Evans trounced by replacement

Dumped DJ Chris Evans, long considered the biggest draw on Virgin Radio, had to face an embarrassing pay-off today - as figures showed his replacement has trounced him.

New Breakfast Show host Steve Penk drew an extra 300,000 listeners each week during his first three months in the job.

He has taken the audience to more than two million for the first time in a year, when they had been deserting the station with Evans on the early shift.

Evans got the boot in the summer after repeatedly failing to turn up for work, citing illness while being spotted in the pub with his new wife Billie Piper. The DJ - often rapped for his near-the-knuckle on-air comments - had lost interest in the show.

Penk, who joined the station from London-based Capital FM, said today: "It's a result - what a way to start. It's a great show to do and I love it. There's more to come."

There had been fears that the loss of Evans could lead to the audience ebbing away for Virgin, one of the leading commercial stations. Earlier this year it was revamped to mix contemporary music with classic rock and pop.

But the figures released by Radio Joint Audience Research (Rajar) showed that it had reached a 12-month high with 3.7 million listeners.

Paul Jackson, Virgin's programme director, said: "It's a great achievement for Steve and the station as a whole.

"He's brought an entirely different show with a different dynamic and has potential to attract an even bigger audience as the show develops.

"The results are an endorsement of the changes we are making to our programming, sharpening our choice of music and bringing in some great new talent."