COUNCIL leaders from across South Cumbria have called on the government to carry out its pledge to get the whole of the UK broadband connected by 2020.

Barrow Borough, South Lakeland and Copeland councils have all backed a rallying call by the Local Government Association, which is urging the government to reaffirm its commitment to a national minimum broadband speed.

Many rural areas in the South Lakes often struggle to get an internet connection and council leaders have warned that this could have a detrimental effect on Cumbria's economy.

Mayor of Copeland, Mike Starkie, said: "There are some areas where internet connections are particularly weak but as a whole we want to see super-fast broadband speeds in every part of the borough.

"Improved internet can only help businesses and make it easier for them to operate and I'm glad that the Local Government Association is pushing this through.

"Also with more and more people working from home, faster broadband speeds would present an opportunity for businesses to expand and grow."

The county was promised more than £2m worth of funding to improve the speed of broadband as part of the Connecting Cumbria project last year.

However, many areas of the county are yet to reap the benefits of this investment and Councillor Graham Vincent, who is South Lakeland District Council’s portfolio holder for economy, wants to see faster internet connections come into play in the near future.

"Broadband is a key part of the infrastructure these days for business progression and in the South Lakes we are keen on developing these faster internet connections.

"As time moves on, people are starting to use broadband for a variety of things, such as downloading their favourite television programmes, and the government needs to make sure that faster connections are implemented to meet homeowners' needs."

Cllr Vincent also thinks that better broadband could allow for the introduction of Telemedicine - a cost-cutting digital service which allows doctors and consultants to monitor people with poor health problems from their homes.

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It has been described as the future of healthcare, saving the NHS £1bn a year and preventing overcrowding by cutting admissions by 40 per cent.

A telemedicine link has already been set up between Furness General Hospital and GP staff in Millom.

Cllr Vincent added: "This is a revolutionary bit of technology that is growing at quite a pace and if there is someone in a rural area of our borough who needs their blood pressure or sugar levels monitoring they could do that themselves and report the results back to doctors."

Barrow Borough Council leader, Councillor Dave Pidduck, joined neighbouring councils in announcing its intention to also urge the government to press on with its faster broadband scheme.

He said: "There are areas that suffer from rural isolation and have difficulties with the internet. Broadband is such a necessity in today's world and anything that improves our connectivity is welcomed."