A NEW multi-million pound investment has been announced to improve the county's Wi-Fi connections.

Superfast Worcestershire say the £6.2 million expansion is expected to extend the superfast broadband roll-out to more than 5,300 further Worcestershire households and businesses.

Worcestershire County Council has signed a new contract with co-funding partner BT Group, to reach some of the county’s more remote communities.

When work is complete, more than 96 per cent of Worcestershire homes and businesses will be able to access superfast broadband.

Lift UP Gym at Blackminster Business Park, near Evesham, provided the location for the announcement.

The gym, which was opened recently by Harriet Bain and Richard Stovell, is benefitting from superfast fibre as a result of the Superfast Worcestershire programme.

Mid-Worcestershire MP, Nigel Huddleston, said: “I am delighted that phase 3 of the Superfast Worcestershire Broadband roll-out has been announced.

"It is hard to overstate how critical gaining access to superfast broadband is for Worcestershire residents and I know just how frustrating it has been for the constituents who have not yet been reached by the programme.

"The full roll-out cannot come soon enough for my constituents and the commencement of this new phase is a significant sign of progress.”

Engineers from Openreach, the business responsible for Britain’s largest phone and broadband network, will begin work on the new phase in early 2018 and upgrades are due to be completed in 2019. It builds on the two earlier stages of the programme.

Openreach will be using technology capable of delivering ultrafast download speeds of up to 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) and upload speeds of up to 220Mbps.

Councillor Ken Pollock, Worcestershire County Council cabinet member responsible for economy and infrastructure said: "The county council's continued commitment to improve the level of broadband coverage in Worcestershire shows that we recognise access to high-speed broadband is crucial for residents and businesses alike.

"These new contracts prove that we are determined to be one of the best connected counties in the UK, and I'm delighted that our programme is going further."