WEST Oxfordshire District Council has pledged to look into ways to secure better high-speed broadband coverage for rural communities in the district.

As reported in the Witney Gazette in August, while Oxfordshire County Council has appointed BT as its commercial partner to bring £25m of improvements to high-speed broadband coverage, many smaller communities would still miss out.

The district council estimates the work being carried out by BT will mean 88 per cent of homes and firms in West Oxfordshire would have high-speed broadband by the end of 2015.

District council leader Barry Norton told a meeting of the full council last week that he wanted to look at ways to invest in faster coverage for the rest of the district.

He said that he believed support should be given to extend coverage, where possible, to parts of the district not covered in the existing contract "as this will bring huge benefits to the local economy in rural West Oxfordshire, where many people work from home or run local businesses".

He told members that there was an option under the countywide scheme for district councils to work with BT to extend their coverage, but that the council would explore all options.

A meeting with the county council and BT will be held next month to examine further possibilities for improvements within the Better Broadband project.