More set to benefit from rural broadband

As many as 150 residents and businesses in Newton-on-Rawcliffe, and Stape, near Pickering, will get access to a broadband connection with as fast as 10Mbps download speeds, as part of the first project of its kind in England.

Yorkshire has the lowest rates of internet connection in the country – 64 per cent of people are online compared with a national average of 71 per cent and vast swathes of East and North Yorkshire still cannot get broadband at all.

Subscribers who have already joined the scheme elsewhere in the county say it has already made a huge difference.

Mike Steele, who lives at Kale Pot Hole, five miles outside Stape, and who runs an event management company and holiday cottage from his home, said: "The broadband connection has made an incredible difference to my life.

"It has reduced my working hours and given me time to keep in touch with my family who are spread all over the world."

Elderly resident Norah Moxon, who lives alone in Stape, uses the new internet connection to do her food shopping, order online prescriptions and arrange doctor appointments.

"The internet provides a window to the world and this has made a huge difference," she said.

"As a result of the new service, I have embraced technology as I would rather have the benefit of it than be afraid of it."

The service is provided by NY Net, a joint initiative of Yorkshire Forward, North Yorkshire County Council and Yorkshire-based company NextGenUs UK.