A team of Zimbabwean journalists in Hertsmere have turned to text messaging to get news to people in their homeland.

SW Radio Africa broadcasts from a studio in the borough to Zimbabwe over short-wave transmission and the internet.

But president Robert Mugabe, 83, has made it increasingly difficult by jamming transmission into major cities, including the capital, Harare.

To beat the censors, the station has launched an SMS news delivery service via the mobile phone network in Zimbabwe.

It has grown from a base of 500 subscribers in December to 2,000 today - and is receiving about 100 new subscription requests every day.

Gerry Jackson, the station's founder, said: "We have noticed a huge increase in people wanting to take up the opportunity of mobile phone alerts.

"Within 160 characters we send one message a day, giving people the headlines for vitally important events they would not otherwise know about."

Ms Jackson, who was born in Kent but spent most of her life living in Africa, set up SW Radio Africa in December, 2001.

She said: "On Sunday, opposition leaders were picked up and beaten at a prayer meeting. The pictures of their injuries were beamed around the world.

"But the feedback we had indicated that our SMS alerts were the first a lot of people in Zimbabwe knew about what had happened.

"With the movement of technology it is getting harder for oppressive regimes to block access to information - and that's a wonderful thing."

Mugabe's regime last week launched a desperate attempt to shut off the country from the outside world.

His party, Zanu PF, arrested and assaulted key opposition leaders as they attempted to leave Zimbabwe.

SW Radio Africa presenter Tichana Sibanda, 36, said it was proof that Mugabe's grip on Zimbabwe may be loosening. He said he sensed a positive change' and said SW Radio Africa was providing a lifeline' to citizens.

Mr Sibanda, a broadcaster, presenter and producer, said: "It has actually surprised me how fast events have moved on in Zimbabwe over the past two weeks. I can sense a positive change."

There are estimated to be between 500,000 and one million Zimbabweans living in the UK.

Producer and presenter Violet Gonda, 32, left the country of her own choice. Miss Gonda moved to the UK in 2000 to study a masters degree in international journalism at City University in London.

She now works at SW Radio Africa and added: "I eat, breathe and dream Zimbabwe. We phone home every single day, speaking to victims and people on the ground and so we know things are changing. Now we need the international community, including Britain, to put pressure on Robert Mugabe to bow to the wishes of his people and stand down."