UP to £21 million is to be invested to help most parts of North Yorkshire get superfast broadband.

The county council says this will connect 95 per cent of premises into superfast compared to 46 per cent before the authority’s superfast campaign began.

Up to £13 million will be put in from the county council’s own funds with £8 million from national and European governments

The cash comes on top of £34.5 million invested previously.

Executive Member for Broadband Cllr Don McKenzie said: “This is an enviable record which makes North Yorkshire the leading council in the country for the reach of its high speed broadband programme.

“We can celebrate our success so far, but this additional investment reflects the county council’s determination to ensure that all of our taxpayers - communities and businesses – benefit from high-speed connectivity.

"We want North Yorkshire to be the premier place for people to live and to do business and we recognise that access to high speed broadband is vitally important to the economic prosperity of the county.

“With this extra funding, we will be able to penetrate to the more remote parts of our very rural county, to communities and businesses which hitherto had little hope of reaping the advantages and rewards of high speed internet access.”

So far 740 fibre-broadband cabinets have been installed across the county.