Street split by fibre optic broadband access

A village street has been divided between those with access to super-fast fibre broadband and others with a "painfully" slow internet connection.

Several houses on Meldyke Lane in Stainton did get fibre optic broadband in 2013 but the majority are having to deal with what they call "appalling" browsing speeds.

Resident Tan Ellahi said his family's "intermittent" internet meant only one person could use the internet at a time.

Openreach has confirmed work to expand the network in the village is not scheduled to start until 2027.

Mr Ellahi, who lives with his wife and two daughters, said their internet was "terrible" and they struggled to even stream a film in the evening.

The 50-year-old explained multiple family members worked from home during the day but struggled with the internet regularly dropping out.

"It's been terrible.," he said. "Our broadband is really intermittent and it is frustrating because we try to access online banking and it just stops working.

"We can't watch a film on an evening or use the internet if our son wants to game.

"We pay for a large amount of internet but only one of us can use it at a time."

Mr Ellahi currently pays £29 a month for his internet package and hopes that Openreach will continue rolling out fibre optic broadband for the rest of the street.

Several houses near the fibre optic broadband box were connected in 2013 but the rest of the village has no option to join.

Internet download speeds can be as low as 0.69Mbps on the street, compared with the national average of 69.4Mbps in 2023.

Paul Coleman runs his business from home and struggles with his devices having patchy connections.

"It's appalling. We have no other options on this section of the street.

"The printer upstairs is always disconnecting and so is the iPad.

"Neighbours have fibre optic, there are only five or six connected to it but the people here cannot get it.

"We were promised it back in 2013 but nothing has happened since."

A spokesperson for Openreach said: "Our engineers are busy making full fibre broadband available to thousands of properties every week across the UK.

"There's a huge amount of work to do and although this area is in our fibre plans, work is not scheduled to start until 2027."

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