HUNDREDS of residents have welcomed ultrafast broadband, after years of slow speeds, thanks to community action.

Around 640 homes and businesses across Chilbolton and Goodworth Clatford are now able to benefit from faster internet speeds following work carried out by Virgin Media and village campaigners.

The villages are the first in the Test and Dun Valleys area to get speeds of up to 362Mbps as part of an innovative community driven scheme.

Chair of West Tytherley and Frenchmoor Parish Council, Cate Bell, said: “We are really pleased that Virgin Media’s network is now starting to appear across the Test and Dun Valley villages. Their build is the result of a huge community campaign, championed by several individuals across the area, and we are glad that villagers can now start to benefit from this a brilliant initiative.”

As part of the roll out, the company went to visit Chilbolton to give its first customer the ‘VIP’ treatment and to find out how having their broadband speed boosted has helped them.

Customer Julie Connor said: “As we live in a rural area, we felt left behind by the technological advance happening in more urban areas and was frustrated by the lack of action from some internet providers.

“Virgin Media has really been on board with us from the very start and I really want to thank them for being so dedicated and approachable.

“Our ability to use the internet has massively improved and there are now more activities for our children to do. Instead of it taking days to upload files, it now takes minutes.

“Working from home will be so much easier and we can now make full use of the office which we couldn’t previously with our old connection.

“The sports and entertainment service is fantastic and the service is much more reliable than what we received previously.”

Councillor Phil North, leader of Test Valley Borough Council, added: “Access to superfast broadband for Hampshire homes and businesses is an important contributor to economic prosperity.

“The work of the Test Valley community and Virgin Media is very welcome indeed, demonstrating what can be achieved by residents working collaboratively to find effective broadband solutions in ‘hard to reach’ areas.”