COUNCIL bosses are “pleased” with the increased take-up of a high speed internet initiative part-funded by the taxpayer.

By the end of 2014 10 per cent of premises had signed up for faster download speeds provided by Superfast Worcestershire, a scheme that the county council has pumped £8.5 million into.

Your Worcester News revealed last year that only three per cent had taken up the offer by the end of September.

Councillor Simon Geraghty, deputy leader of Worcestershire County Council, said: "While the Superfast Worcestershire programme deployment is still in the very early stages, we are pleased with the rise in take up levels from three per cent in September.

“Take-up of the new infrastructure is steady and reflects where we are with the roll-out. The nature of the roll-out programme means we’re connecting communities in phases and the take-up figures are a reflection of this.

"As the roll-out continues there are more opportunities for customers to sign up.

“It is also worth noting that many customers will be tied into existing contracts and therefore may not yet have had the opportunity to sign up.

“In the meantime our project teams are working hard to raise awareness of the benefits and stimulate demand in communities where we are rolling out faster fibre broadband and reminding local people they have to choose to upgrade – it’s not something that happens automatically.

“We are looking to focus on stimulating demand over the coming months and throughout the programme."

Superfast Worcestershire is a £20 million partnership project between Worcestershire County Council and BT designed to bring download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second to 90 per cent of the county’s residents and businesses by June 2016.

It builds on the commercial roll-out of fibre broadband by BT and others and is installing an open network, meaning people can sign up with a number of communication companies.

Worcestershire County Council will contribute £8.5 million into Superfast Worcestershire while BT and the government’s Broadband Delivery UK fund will contribute £8.9 million and £3.35 million respectively.