Dublin alternative music radio station TXFM has announced that it is to close down with the loss of six staff.

The station, which was previously called Phantom FM, has held its licence for Dublin alternative rock music station since 2006.

The licence expires on October 26 of this year and in a statement released on Wednesday, TXFM's parent company, Dublin Rock Radio Limited, said it did not apply to renew the licence ahead of yesterday's deadline.

“This decision means that the station will cease operating in the coming months and that all staff (six) will be made redundant”, the statement added.

“We would like to thank the staff, the presenters, the contributors and above all the loyal listeners that supported the station since its launch 10 years ago," said Dublin Rock Radio Chairman Trevor Bowen.

Gervaise Slowey, CEO of Communicorp, which is one of the station’s shareholders and which also runs Today FM, said: “It is with great regret that we have come to this decision, however despite a recent re-branding and a restructuring of the business, it has not been possible to make the station commercially viable.”

Slowey added “Communicorp are committed to funding their share of the redundancy costs.”

in a statement on their website, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland said on Wednesday, "The Contract Awards Committee had initiated a competitive licensing process, having received two expressions of interest in the provision of the service on 1st December 2015.

The contract for this service is currently held by Dublin Rock Radio Limited, broadcasting as TXFM. This contract is scheduled to expire on 26th October 2016.

The BAI’s Contract Awards Committee will consider the matter at its April meeting and a further update will be provided in due course."