Two more villages land fast broadband

Residents of High and Low Bradley, near Skipton, and Barlby, near Selby, are now able to surf the web after years of putting up with slow download speeds – with some having no internet access at all.

Service provider LN Communications rigged up the high-speed broadband in the villages following huge demand from residents.

It now plans to do the same for eight more communities in the coming months, including Ulleskelf, near Tadcaster.

In July North Yorkshire County Council’s received over £17m of Government funding to bring high-speed broadband to every resident and business in the county by 2017 as part of its Connecting North Yorkshire project.

It was one of four areas in the country to receive the cash, in a move to address fears the county’s lack of connectivity could have a devastating effect on its economy.

NYnet, the county council’s broadband company, is also working with the European Regional Development Fund to secure match funding bringing the total investment for the county-wide broadband project to £25-£30m. County Coun Carl Les, chairman of CNY, said: “We are delighted that our project is gaining momentum all the time. Communities round Newton and Farndale are already benefiting from broadband connections through an earlier pilot scheme, and a further three rural community projects are in development.

“We are determined to ensure that the businesses and people of North Yorkshire continue to thrive – and high quality broadband is essential to achieve this and will put our rural communities and businesses on a level playing field with major cities such as Leeds and London.”

NYnet chief executive David Cullen said plans to build a new broadband network across the county were currently under way.