Skip to content

Tributes to presenter who was 'the best of local radio'

News imageBBC Emma Britton in the BBC Radio Somerset studio. She has short dark hair, is wearing a blue top in a purple radio studio with a screen and a microphone.BBC
Emma Britton was a beloved BBC radio presenter who joined the corporation in 2007

Tributes have been paid to a BBC presenter, described as "the best in local radio", who has died.

Emma Britton, 52, who previously hosted the breakfast programmes for both BBC Radio Bristol and BBC Radio Somerset, was diagnosed with incurable stage four lung cancer in April, 2025.

She died peacefully surrounded by her loved ones at Musgrove Park Hospitalon Saturday. Her family, posting on Facebook, said they were "heartbroken".

Gareth Roberts, executive editor of both stations, described Emma as a "genuine, warm presenter" who was an "amazing colleague and a great friend to many". Stephanie Marshall, Head of BBC West, said Emma was a "a true force of nature".

News imageEmma Britton smiles as she raises a microphone in the air. She is wearing a yellow Children in Need top.
'Emma's ability to connect with the audience was one of a kind,' says Roberts

Marshall added: "Emma was Mrs Bridgwater, always doing her hometown and Somerset proud.

"She will be painfully missed but completely unforgettable, and the world while poorer without her, we are far better off for her having been in it, if only it could have been for a bit longer."

Roberts added: "Emma was quite simply the best of BBC local radio.

"A genuine, warm presenter who not only lived here in the West but who really cared about the communities in Somerset and Bristol with a passion that leaped out of the radio."

On Facebook, the family said Emma was "so grateful for the love and care shown to her in recent months".

"We are also, as you would expect, going to commemorate and celebrate her life in exactly the way she wanted," they added.

"And with the grace and love she showed so many families in the same situation we find ourselves now. It's hard to comprehend just how many people she has helped so profoundly over the years."

After joining BBC Radio Somerset in 2007, Emma became a presenter and took over the breakfast show in 2013 before moving across to Radio Bristol in 2016, where she was host for five years.

After going freelance in 2020, Emma also became a celebrant, where she administered weddings, funerals and other services.

She spoke openly about living with her illness, saying she had never smoked or vaped, and the cancer had been diagnosed as genetic.

She started taking a targeted therapy drug and did return to working on the radio on a freelance basis.

"You can stay on the targeted therapy as long as it's working and some have lived on it for a number of years," she said last August.

Tributes from colleagues to Emma who has died, aged 52

Andy Bennett, a presenter for both BBC Radio Bristol and Somerset, said: "There is no way I would be doing this job if it wasn't for Emma."

He said she encouraged him to do get into radio when he was working as a welder.

"She was just good with people and understood people," he said.

"The listeners loved her. I always told her 'without you I wouldn't be doing what I am doing'. I wish I had a chance to tell her that again."

News imageAndy Bennett, pictured left, holds a phone in one hand as he takes a selfie with Emma. He has one arm around her shoulder and wears a black Christmas jumper and a navy-blue hat. Emma has short brown hair and smiles at the camera. She is wearing a dark-green top underneath a black puffer coat.
"Emma was my friend and I always told her how important she was," says Bennett

Emma's ability to connect with the audience made her "one of a kind", added Roberts.

"One minute Emma could be laughing uncontrollably on air with a listener and then the next Emma would be holding someone in authority to account, determined to get the answer the listeners wanted.

"She was an amazing colleague, a great friend to so many both here in the BBC and in our audience. Emma will be missed so much."

News imageEmma pictured left, wearing yellow Pudsey ears and a green jacket. She is standing by a 'Welcome to Bridgwater' sign with a pink balloon in the shape of the number two. Pudsey stands on the right holding a pink balloon in the shape of the number four.
"Emma really cared about the communities in Somerset and Bristol," said Roberts

In February 2026, she raised more than £11,000 for ALK Positive UK, which she described as "the charity that saved my life from falling apart".

"In the weeks following my diagnosis I was in a pretty dark place," she said, but added with the help of the charity she found a community of other people living with the disease.

"The charity has given me and my husband John support, advice, solidarity, information, education, friendship and above all they give us hope."

News imageEmma is stood next to her husband John. She is holiding flowers and has short dark hair with a red highlight. He is wearing a patterned shirt with a flower stuck on.
Emma Britton married John Turner after her cancer diagnosis

Earlier this year Emma spoke at two major conferences in Europe, helping cancer specialists understand how it feels to be a patient.

But in recent weeks, Emma was admitted to hospital following a stroke. Her family said she received the best possible care and was surrounded by her loved ones.

Follow BBC Bristol on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.