RADIO 4’S UK Theme is to be rerecorded by a one-hit wonder from the Nineties in the hope that chart glory may save the medley from being axed.

Mike Flowers, formerly of The Mike Flowers Pops, is most famous for his reworking of Wonderwall by Oasis, which reached No 2 in the charts in 1995. His version turned the gravelly Britpop anthem into a swinging melody reminiscent of the late 1950s, and Flowers was credited with the revival of British “light music”.

Now he will join the composer Gavin Sutherland and the Royal Ballet Symphony Orchestra to lay down the track. The B side will be the shipping forecast theme, Sailing By. The music download service iTunes has expressed interest.

One campaign site to save the theme, which is broadcast at 5.30am, has nearly 16,000 signatures, another claims 4,000, and although some crossover is suspected, Flowers said: “If there are 20,000 people who bothered to sign a petition online then that’s 20,000 people prepared to click a button to buy the single.” Proceeds from sales will go towards the Light Music Society.

• Only 188,000 people listen to the UK Theme folk medley, according to the first published figures for the music. The audience figure will strengthen the position of Mark Damazer, the Radio 4 Controller, who wants to replace the music with a “pacy news briefing”. Yesterday broadcasting unions, angry over BBC cost-cutting measures, threatened to take popular presenters such as Terry Wogan off air with a strike that could start as soon as next week.

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