The government says its plan to deliver ‘superfast’ broadband to rural parts of the UK has accelerated “dramatically”.

As of last month, the £1.2 billion project has connected 273,731 remote properties to the network and the rate of new connections will rise from 10,000 to 40,000 a week by the summer.

As part of the government’s long-term economic strategy it plans to deliver coverage of 95 per cent of dwellings by 2017.

According to official data, the UK’s superfast broadband coverage is proportionally greater than its European neighbours of Germany, France, Italy and Spain.

Culture secretary Maria Miller said: "These figures prove that there is now a real momentum with thousands of homes and businesses now getting access each week.

"Details of how an additional £250m will be allocated to local authorities as part of the nationwide rollout to take coverage to 95% of the UK by 2017 will be announced shortly."