WEST WORCESTERSHIRE MP Harriett Baldwin has welcomed a new £1 million fund which will help more rural communities get better broadband.
The Worcestershire County Council project team will shortly be announcing plans to extend the reach of superfast broadband connections to areas which have been excluded in the current roll out.
The £1.1 million fund is expected to reach areas of West Worcestershire including Birtsmorton and a segment of the county running from Holt Heath across to Abberley.
Many of the households and business have slow internet connections and are not part of the current Superfast Worcestershire upgrade programme.
Harriett has lobbied Ministers to secure better funding for rural Worcestershire and has discussed the matter with Culture Secretary Sajid Javid who is also MP for Bromsgrove.
Harriett commented: “Broadband Delivery UK was set up specifically to help to secure better broadband for rural areas which would not be covered by the commercial market.
“I welcome every penny which helps to give rural communities better connections. Every day more and more of my constituents are getting faster broadband and it can't come soon enough."
“We expect everyone to do things like tax their cars online but some people are still having to live with very slow internet speeds.
“I hope that this programme starts to fill the rural gaps in my constituency which have been missed by the current programme and we start to identify the areas which are currently set to miss out altogether and find ways to help them too.
"I thank the county council and BT for the work being done to bring rural communities up to speed.”