villagers are celebrating after years of battling for broadband connection.

A campaign by resident Ric Cheadle, has finally born fruit after six years of lobbying MPs, ministers and broadband companies senior management.

From this week, Ric and his neighbours in Yelverton are being connected to the internet through fast fibre cables.

He is now supporting the ongoing fight by other villages left behind in the digital age who are not a priority because villages need extra work to connect them, making it uneconomic.

Ric’s home was due to be connected this week. He said: ‘It’s taken years and years and finally we are being given the connectivity we all deserve.

‘This brings us into the 21st century and people who work from home and those who like accessing films through Netflix, for instance, or want to download a lot of data and big documents can now do so.

‘I’m pleased for everyone and am keenly waiting for my own broadband. It will be worth the struggle.

‘Now I’m happy to share with other rural communities how it can be done - as long as you are prepared to persevere.’

The work is being carried out by Air Band through the Connecting Devon and Somerset scheme (CDS). CDS is funded through the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership’s (HotSWLEP) Growth Deal, to provide improved connectivity for rural commuities

He added said: ‘Rural areas do require more extra work than urban areas where they have hubs and where it’s more profitable for the big companies. So we went through the CDS scheme which provides subsidy.’

Neighbour Mary and Peter Burroughs have been newly connected. Mary said: ‘We’re very grateful to Ric for his hard work on this. It’s very important for Peter as he works from home and needs to download lots of legal documents, which is near impossible with the slow connectivity.’