A HELICOPTER was drafted in today to help the work to upgrade Oxford’s TV transmission mast at Beckley.

Two weeks ago, the Oxford Mail revealed hundreds of viewers were experiencing problems receiving channels including ITV, Channel 4 and Five because of work to get ready for the 2011 switchover to digital television.

The mast covers just under 410,000 homes.

Engineering work planned for Monday had to be postponed because of heavy snow showers.

Workmen used a helicopter to fit a new antenna which weighed between two and three tonnes to the 500ft-high mast.

Digital UK, the organisation which is handling the switchover for the Government, said the project was still on schedule to be finished by April.

Spokesman Peter Monteith said it had received 500 inquiries from viewers about the work, and only a dozen formal complaints.

He said: “We are doing the work as fast as we realistically can.

“But we have to consider the safety of the team working on the mast.

“If the weather means it is not safe for the workers to go up there, then they won’t.

“We’d ask people to bear with us while the work is going on.”