TEN per cent of the Cotswolds will be stuck with sluggish internet speeds as it was revealed that Fastershire will not hook up every home until 2018.

Fastershire, the partnership between Herefordshire and Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) to provide fast broadband, aims to get the Cotswolds enjoying speeds of up to 24mbps by the end of 2015.

However, many homes in rural areas won’t see the benefit of this first roll out and will have to wait up to three years.

County councillor Paul Hodgkinson brought up the issue at a GCC environment scrutiny committee meeting.

He was told that the instillation broadband for the final 10 per cent had been put out to tender and three companies had so far applied.

The contract will be awarded next month.

“This is a really key issue for residents and businesses in the Cotswolds,” Paul said.

“What we are talking about what is now a basic service and in many countries, even ones poorer than our own, they have much faster internet speeds.

“There’s a real section of people in rural areas who are suffering with poor broadband and they are uncertain as to when it will improve.”

Slow internet has been a plague on Cotswold businesses, with some rural areas unable to get speeds above 0.5mpbs.

Freddie Elwes is residential letterings manager at Colesbourne Estate and member of the newly formed Churn Valley Broadband Group.

“In my office get speeds that aren’t much better than dial up, it can take 15 minutes to log into my web based email,” he said.

“As a business it makes things really difficult, especially when trying to get tenants in, once they see the internet speeds they’re usually put off.

“I believe people in the Cotswolds won’t get fast broadband and we’ll have to end up paying for it ourselves.”

In the past villages have clubbed together and bought their own broadband but the projects can be very expensive.

Companies are often put off by infrastructure projects in rural areas as they are costly and will often not turn a profit for the company.

Nigel Riglar, GCC commissioning director for communities and infrastructure, said: “The first phase of the Fastershire project has delivered faster broadband to over 54,000 premises.

“We’ve now secured additional funding to bring faster broadband to even more homes across Gloucestershire, especially the more rural parts of the county.

“It’s hoped that everyone who needs it will be able to access broadband speeds of at least 2mbps with most getting up to 24mbps by the end of 2018.”