The Countryside Alliance has hailed a new scheme announced by the treasury, which aims to find alternative means of bringing superfast broadband to rural areas.

It will involve using a dedicated pot of funding to test out alternative ways of installing broadband networks without fibre optic technology.

Countryside Alliance Executive Chairman Sir Barney White-Spunner explained that a faster broadband connection can make a real difference to residents' everyday lives.

He said: "This is great news for rural businesses and communities. Broadband connectivity is as important to those people as a connection to gas, water and electricity."

The initiative will see £10 million of government funds invested to improve connectivity in the most hard-to-reach areas of the UK, most of which are not eligible for a fibre optic network.

Its announcement comes amid criticisms from some about BT's decision to leave many rural areas out of rollouts because they are not deemed to be commercially viable.

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