RURAL communities are being left behind by the government's broadband plans, MPs have warned.

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee fears hard to reach rural communities are being overlooked in the race to upgrade basic internet connections to superfast broadband.

The government wants 95% of the country's premises to have superfast broadband connections by 2017. But that leaves 5% on slower or non-existent connections.

Committee chair Anne McIntosh MP said: "People living in the hard-to-reach 5% of premises need the same access as the rest to online and digital services.

"There is a risk in the current approach that improving service for those who already have it will leave even further behind the rural farms, businesses and homes who have little or none."

The report, Rural broadband and digital-only services, was published on Tuesday (3 February).

It raise fears that a focus on improving access for most of the country may leave a minority with little or no ability to use key government services increasingly available only online.

The government plans to transform broadband require 95% of premises to have superfast speeds of 24Mbps by 2017 then, although BT told the committee that the target might slip into 2018.

Miss McIntosh added: "We are concerned that the current broadband rollout targets are based on inaccurate assumptions that universal basic broadband coverage has largely been achieved.

The reality was that many rural communities were still struggling with no access, or slow broadband speeds, she added.

"There is a fear that upgrading the majority who already have access to basic broadband is creating an even bigger gap between those with and those completely without broadband access."

Speed and delivery are vital components of the broadband rollout plan.

But the committee strongly recommends that the government's minimum target speed of 2Mbps is too low, must be reassessed and a new minimum speed identified.

Miss McIntosh said: This is a minimum speed commitment to the public and it must reflect modern technological demands, it is not high enough; 10 Mbps is a more suitable target."

Rural business leaders welcomed the report.

Country Land and Business Association president Henry Robinson said: "We are pleased MPs have listened carefully to the evidence we set out to them.

"The committee is right to conclude that a minimum speed of two Megabits per second (Mbps) is now too slow a speed for modern requirements.

"It is also right to press the government to review this, but it is a shame the report stopped short of calling for a Universal Service Obligation.

"It is clear that rural areas have fallen behind."

If the government was to level the playing field, it must prioritise hardest-to-reach areas, even if this meant investing in alternative technologies such as satellite, said Mr Robinson.