I listen to BBC Radio frequently. however I cannot get it to work on Opera with or without VPN' (using Linux Mint 20 OS) The message is " This player no longer works properly on your device, you need to update your browser or device to continue".

It works OK on Firefox in Linux and Opera on Windows7. I have updated Opera and the VLC Media Player to no avail

Reconsiderations please.

Mytunerpro or mytuner on google playstore. Some tv smart hubs have it. Listen to the uk all the time with this.

mytuner-radio.com has what you need. Listening to radio4 on linux mint 20 now. Using chromium. 

I am not sure precisely how the OP is listening to BBC radio on Opera but their iPlayer radio app has been replaced with Sounds.

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds

 

You can select any Radio station there and there's also a pop-out player.

 

 

I have been using Sounds on my smartphone for about 10 days now and it's a lot smoother and quicker than the old iPlayer Radio.

 

 

I use a fairly antiquaited browser - FlashPeak Slimjet 64bit.    I can listen to the news etc. from each day or previous day.     There are previous programs such as Science NOw that can also be played.
Flashpeak is no longer supported by Youtube but you can download from YT and Dailymotion.