SMALL businesses and homeowners in Ramsbottom and its surrounding areas are still without superfast broadband despite a campaign to improve speeds.

Residents in Affetside, Holcombe and a small area of Hawkshaw have campaigned to see higher speeds since fibre broadband became available across the country.

Bury North MP, David Nuttall has raised the issue numerous times in Parliament and most recently in September last year.

Last year the Government announced they would be offering homeowners subsidised satellite broadband connection if they were unable to obtain an affordable broadband service of at least 2mbps by the end of 2015.

The scheme, which was rolled out throughout December, formed part of the Government’s Universal Service Obligation to make sure homes and businesses could access speeds of at least 2mbps and deliver coverage to 95 per cent of the country by 2017.

However Falmai Binns, chairman of Bury Rural Inequalities Forum (BRIF), believes the scheme is not good enough and wants to see the issue looked at more seriously.

She said: “Why should these residents have to have satellites when the rest of Bury has perfect broadband working at a reasonable speed?

“Affetside, which consists of about 60 odd houses, and Hawkshaw Lane, around 10 houses, plus parts of Turton Road, are all currently receiving broadband below the 2mbps level.

“There is no programme to provide new booster cabinets which would link them into the national fibre system – despite the fact that we know, at least certainly for Affetside that this resolution is feasible at a cost of £60,000 for two cabinets.”

Mr Nuttall added: “The residents of Affetside have suffered poor broadband access for long enough and I am sure the new Universal Service Obligation will mean some improvement cannot come soon enough for them.”