East Cleveland secures extra fibre broadband funding

More homes and businesses in the East Cleveland area are set to gain a connection to superfast fibre optic broadband thanks to an additional £300,000 investment.

The money has been awarded to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council following an application to the Rural Community Broadband Fund, the Northern Echo reports.

Last year, the East Cleveland area was granted £260,000 from the government's Broadband Delivery UK scheme, which was then matched by the council, while BT also invested cash into bringing high-speed broadband to the community.

Following a campaign led by local resident Trevor Watson, this further £300,000 investment has been secured, taking the total spent on connecting the area to the superfast service to almost £1 million.

Mr Watson said: "This has been a long time coming, but I am really pleased that finally funding has been found to help increase broadband speeds for Moorsholm and other areas of East Cleveland."

It is hoped around 93 per cent of those living and working in the East Cleveland area will be able to access high-speed fibre broadband by 2016.