RURAL MPs have joined forces to urge the government to deliver faster broadband to countryside communities.

The Broadband and Mobile Telecoms Committee aims to bring pressure to bear on both government and industry over the issue.

It is the first time such a committee has been set up at Westminister.

Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger, who represents the Bridgwater and West Somerset constiituency, has been elected chairman of the committee.

He said: "I am ashamed to tell you that in some parts of the constituency it is almost quicker to send a letter by post than expect an email to arrive safely.

"High speed broadband remains a pipe dream if you live out in the sticks. This dismal state of affairs has got to change."

Mr Liddell-Grainger said he had joined together with parliamentary colleagues from all parties to "get some action".

He added: "Such a committee has never existed at Westminster before. At last there is a united voice at Westminster pressing for big changes."

Formation of the group comes as consumer group Which? warned that many customers were failing to get the broadband speeds promised by providers.

A staggering 15.4 million households weren't getting the promised 'up to' headline speeds on their broadband packages.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd, said: 'It's not good enough that millions of homes are so poorly served by their broadband provider with speeds that just don't live up to what was advertised.

"Broadband is an essential part of life these days so people shouldn't be persuaded to buy a package which is never going to live up to expectations."

Despite nine in 10 people telling us they consider speed an important factor when choosing a provider, Which? said 74% of households with fixed broadband connections were paying for packages with advertised speeds they never got.

Average speeds fared even worse.

Just 17% of homes received an average speed that matched the advertised level and even fewer, 15%, managed this during the peak evening period.

Advertising guidelines say only 10% of customers need to achieve the maximum advertised speed, but Which? found three packages that couldn't even meet that.

Only 4% of customers on TalkTalk's 17Mbps package, and just 1% of people on BT and Plusnet's 76Mbps deals, were getting the top advertised speeds.