Walker announced on air he had cancer

The 58-year-old announced live on air last June that he was suffering from a form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

He underwent an emergency operation in October and has been having chemotherapy treatment.

Walker said he was looking forward to returning to work on 1 March and was grateful for the support he had received from listeners.

He said: "When I made the on-air announcement last June I had no idea the sort of journey I was embarking on.

"I found the chemotherapy treatment hard going and in October it resulted in an emergency operation which has taken a while to recover from."

He added: "The BBC has been wonderfully supportive throughout and the Radio 2 listeners have given me huge encouragement with their letters, cards and e-mails.

"I'm very grateful to them. Most of all I'd like to thank my wife Tiggy, without whom I don't think I'd have made it through."

Walker joined BBC Radio 1 in 1969 having made his name on pirate station Radio Caroline, before moving to BBC Radio 2 in 1998.

He was suspended by the station in 1999 after allegations about cocaine use were published in a newspaper.