Internet users in Nangreaves are celebrating after they received high speed broadband for the first time.

Surfers can now access speeds of up to 75 megabits per second after the landlord of the Mason Arms, in Walmersley Old Road, allowed the new cabinet to be installed on his land.

However, areas of Affetside and Hawkshaw are still waiting to receive the high-speed internet, and councillors are calling on further work to be done.

The installation comes after a two-year fight by residents and the Bury Rural Inequalities Forum to improve the service.

Cllr Iain Gartside said: “While places like Nangreaves have seen an improvement in signal and speed, other areas such as Affetside are still awaiting better coverage.

“People from all walks of life are now getting more dependent on having access to high speed broadband and it is imperative that this is put in place as soon as possible so that people who live in rural areas are no longer at a disadvantage.”

Greater Manchester was previously allocated £990,000 by Broadband Delivery UK to deliver faster internet speeds.

Cllr Gartside will put forward a motion at Bury Council’s full council meeting on Wednesday to call on some of this money to reach Bury to help improve internet speeds.

He added: “I hope that the ruling Labour group and also the Liberal Democrats will support this, as we need to ensure we get as much of this as we can for Bury.”

The Government was accused by the Commons Public Accounts Committee of ‘mismanaging’ the rural broadband project by awarding 26 contracts to BT, with a further 18 contracts expected to be handled by the firm.

BT was also criticised for failing to provide full details to local authorities of where it would roll out superfast broadband services, which prevented rivals from offering alternatives. However BT has strenuously denied the claims, and said the report was wrong, claims backed by Bury North MP David Nuttall.

He said: “To suggest the Government simply awarded the contracts to BT is simply untrue. For a start, the process was handled by Broadband Delivery UK and then the projects locally were handled by local councils in Greater Manchester.

“They prepared a plan showing the areas which were not going to be covered by any provider and then put out to tender the project to bring the uncovered areas up to the standard set by government.”