Major telecoms firms have attended a meeting in Cumbria to discuss plans to improve broadband services across the county.

The talks, chaired by Penrith and the Border MP Rory Stewart, saw representatives from companies such as BT, Cable & Wireless and Ericsson given details on the community solutions that are proposed for rural areas with no broadband access.

Held at a pub in the village of Plumpton, the industry day took place after the Department for Culture, Media and Sport committed £16.8 million to boost internet services in remote parts of Cumbria.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Stewart expressed his satisfaction at the outcome, describing the event as the culmination of "many, many months of hard work".

"For the first time we are presenting some very advanced, professional community solutions to some of the very key industry players and inviting suppliers to make commitments so that we can get spades in the ground later this year," he said.

"Our fundamental challenge is to connect some of the most sparsely populated parts of Cumbria to broadband."

Although he acknowledged there is still much work to be done, Mr Stewart insisted the county has the necessary commitment and expertise to develop "exciting" rural broadband solutions that can be replicated across the UK.

The MP has previously said he was "delighted" at the £16.8 million funding award, particularly given that Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt had originally warned him the county was unlikely to receive any financial support to develop its broadband infrastructure.

Cumbria was unveiled last October as one of the government's four broadband pilot sites, where next-generation internet technology will be trialled as part of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition's plans to deliver the best super-fast network in Europe by 2015.

At the time, Chancellor George Osborne predicted the area would receive between £5 million and £10 million of state funding for its broadband plans.

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