SEVERAL towns across Dorset that may struggle to get a broadband connection will be getting a boost.

The news comes as network company Openreach outlined plans to make "ultra fast, ultra-reliable and future-proof broadband" available in 27 market towns and villages across the South West of England.

It is part of a bigger announcement involving 227 "harder-to-reach" areas across the UK, with building to start in the next 14 months.

The network has previously set themselves a target to reach four million homes and businesses with full fibre technology by the end of March next year.

Five locations will benefit from the broadband boost across Dorset, which includes Beaminster, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Motcombe and Verwood.

Matthew Galley, Openreach’s Partnership Director in the West of England, said: “This is great news for people living and working here and builds on Openreach’s strong track record of working in rural areas, for years playing a key role alongside local councils to upgrade nearly 95 per cent of the South West of England to superfast broadband. Today’s announcement is about taking that next step and building a full fibre network that is not only faster, but also more reliable and future-proof for generations to come.”

The work builds on successful cost-busting village trials launched at the end of last year, when engineers developed a range of new tools, skills and techniques to help Openreach build full fibre in areas previously considered too complex or expensive to upgrade.

Openreach’s CEO Clive Selley said: “Our full fibre build program is going great guns - having passed over 2 million premises already on the way to our 4m target by March 2021. We’re now building at around 26,000 premises a week in over 100 locations – reaching a new home or business every 23 seconds That’s up from 13,000 premises a week this time last year.

“Openreach has always been committed to doing our bit in rural Britain - delivering network upgrades in communities that are harder to reach and less densely populated. We intend to build a significant portion of our full-fibre network in these harder to reach areas of the UK and are announcing 227 locations today."

To view the full list of market towns and villages included in the new build, visit www.openreach.com/fibre-broadband.