High-speed internet is now more accessible to homes in Bury than five years ago but communication regulator Ofcom says some properties risk being left behind.

Ofcom’s latest figures have shown that 78 per cent of Bury can access “ultrafast” broadband with speeds of 300mb/s or more, which is up by 36 per cent from 2017 as part of the government’s “levelling-up” agenda.

Access to high-speed internet was initially promised to be made available nationwide by 2025 in the Conservative party’s manifesto, however, this has been revised to 2030.

Despite 70,047 properties in the Bury area having access to higher-speed internet, Ofcom has said while new fibre-optic broadband had improved internet, some remain at risk of being left behind.

A spokesperson said: “Some homes in hard-to-reach areas still struggle to get decent broadband, so there’s more work to do to make sure these communities get the connections they need.”

Across the North West, 2,828 homes were below the minimum standard for broadband speed however, only two homes in Bury are below the "universal service obligation" (USO).

If customers cannot access the internet at this speed, they can ask their local network provider to set up a connection – although internet providers are excused if the cost to them is over £3,400.

A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: "We've put more cash into broadband rollout than any government in British history.

"More than 97 per cent of UK premises can access superfast broadband, which meets people's current needs, but we are determined to not leave anyone behind.

"Since the USO gave people the legal right to a decent internet connection two years ago more than 89,000 premises have been upgraded.

"We're also prioritising these hard-to-reach areas for lightning-fast gigabit broadband through our record £5bn Project Gigabit, with 600,000 premises already connected."