DAVID Cameron has switched on a community broadband project that will give one West Oxfordshire parish one of the fastest internet speeds in the country.

The Prime Minister and Witney MP praised villagers in Northmoor, Moreton and Bablockhythe for getting together to secure speeds of up to one gigabit per second.

New fibre optic cables have been installed to 520 homes from a central cabinet in Northmoor by broadband provider Gigaclear, after the firm matched a £186,000 grant from the Government’s rural community broadband fund.

Mr Cameron said: “This is a great advertisement of how a small community can come together with the help of the Government’s rural community broadband fund to get some of the fastest broadband in the country brought directly to their homes.

“Huge congratulations to all involved and I would encourage everyone to take up this opportunity.’’

Rural broadband has been an issue for many areas in the county. 

Oxfordshire County Council’s ‘Better Broadband’ scheme, working alongside BT, aims to deliver superfast internet to 90 per cent of homes by next year. However, this scheme will not extend to all rural communities, including much of the area covered by the Northmoor network.

Broadband project group leader Graham Shelton, who is also chairman of the parish council, said the new system “catapults us straight into the 21st century.”

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