RURAL primary schools in north and west Cumbria area are being hooked up to full fibre broadband as part of a £200m campaign.

Eaglesfield Paddle, near Cockermouth, Holme St Cuthbert at Abbeytown and Rosley C of E School, near Wigton, are among the first in the country to benefit from a Government programme.

Others supported in the first wave are in Northumberland, Cornwall and Pembrokeshire.

It is part of a Government effort to improve poor connection speeds in remote locations.

“Our decision to tackle some of the hardest to reach places first is a significant shift in Government policy and will be instrumental in delivering our plans for a nationwide full fibre broadband network by 2033,” Culture Secretary Jeremy Wright said.

“Our rollout of superfast broadband transformed the UK’s digital landscape and our modern industrial strategy is focused on investing in the infrastructure that will make Britain fit for the future.”

The number of premises unable to receive decent broadband halved from four per cent to two per cent at the end of 2018, according to regulator Ofcom, which considers a download speed of 10 Mbit/s and an upload speed of 1 Mbit/s the reasonable minimum speed.

Full fibre, where fibre cables run all the way from the exchange to properties, is being rolled out with an “outside-in” approach to ensure rural areas are not left behind.

The Rural Gigabit Connectivity (RGC) programme is prioritising remote parts Cumbria and the other three counties initially, before announcing additional sites in Scotland, Northern Ireland and elsewhere in Wales in the coming months.

“We want everyone across the country to have access to fibre broadband connections no matter where they live,” Exchequer Secretary Robert Jenrick said.

“We’ve set a target of having 15 million premises able to connect to full fibre by 2025 with a nationwide network by 2033, and committed to ensuring the most rural areas aren’t left behind.

“This investment enables communities that have not previously benefited from broadband to leapfrog to the most advanced fibre technology - boosting productivity and enhancing quality of life.”

There have long been calls to enhance broadband speeds available in rural Cumbria ans secure better technology.