MORE than 80 homes and businesses in a North Oxfordshire village can now access high-speed internet thanks to the latest phase of a multi-billion pound project.

The properties in Steeple Aston were given access to the new fibre broadband network after upgrade work carried out for the Better Broadband for Oxfordshire programme.

Villagers were joined on Friday by Banbury MP Victoria Prentis to celebrate the success, which now means some 500 households and firms can benefit from faster download speeds online.

Mrs Prentis said: "I know how important a good internet connection can be to homes and businesses.

"It is great that more of my constituents are getting access to high speed broadband which is increasingly used by people of all ages.

"It is clear that there is still more work to be done as there are still many properties and businesses without access to this important infrastructure.

"Better Broadband for Oxfordshire has done great work so far, and I look forward to welcoming more progress in the future.

"I have no doubt that the residents of Steeple Aston will love using this new service."

The roll-out was part of the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK programme, led locally by Oxfordshire County Council and BT.

It is also supported by Cherwell District Council, the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership and Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership.

In the latest phase of the work, 85 premises in Steeple Aston have benefitted from the upgrade work. They can now get download speeds of up to 80 megabits per second (Mbps) and uploads of up to 20Mbps, the county council said.

It uses the BT Openreach network, giving people a choice of broadband provider.

The arrival of faster internet speeds was welcomed by Graham Porcas, who has run two businesses – Proma Machinery Ltd and Plasmatreat Ltd – from his home office in Steeple Aston for more than 10 years.

Mr Porcas said: "Good broadband access has been vital to enable me to do this successfully and, with the increasing use of internet-based services requiring more reliable connection and higher speeds.

"I am very pleased to be connected to fibre."

Stacey King, BT’s regional manager for Oxfordshire and the South East said: "The roll-out of fibre broadband across Oxfordshire is progressing well and reaching increasingly more remote parts of the county."

Combined with work carried out separately by BT, she added, the number of premises in Oxfordshire now connected to fibre broadband was more than 274,000.

Ms King said: "Every day we’re hearing how the technology is changing people’s lives for the better. "

For more information about the broadband rollout, visit betterbroadbandoxfordshire.org.uk