RURAL residents are being urged to help bring superfast broadband to North Dorset.

Dorset County Council said communities urgently needed to demonstrate that they needed superfast broadband so they got access to the best possible service when faster speeds arrived.

It was vital that the rural areas of the county should register their interest in superfast broadband so they didn't get left behind, said the local authority.

But so far, only about 5% of businesses and households had done so.

Council chief executive Liz Goodall said: "We are very aware and concerned about the poor level of broadband service in North Dorset."

The council wanted to ensure that businesses had access to the best service and speeds that could be achieved, so they could be competitive.

"This is a rural area and access to services and facilities is a major issue for many households."

Increasingly, services were now provided on line and homes would need to be able to make full use of superfast broadband, said Ms Goodall.

Superfast Dorset will invest almost £19 million of public funding to bring access to superfast broadband speeds in rural areas.

But the project team needs to know where people want this improved service, whether to improve their business or social lives.

The public funding cannot be spent in areas that will be covered commercially. In North Dorset these will include parts of Blandford, Shaftesbury and Gillingham.

Several other operators also provide broadband access in the district. But no smaller providers meet national requirements in terms of affordability, coverage and funding.

Superfast Dorset will be active in areas covered by these smaller operators and aims to provide access to speeds of at least 24Mbps to 95% of Dorset premises and 2Mbps to the remainder.

The project team needs local information about how superfast is currently being used and where it is needed for jobs and home use.

The project is a partnership, based at Dorset County Council.

Project lead Dugald Lockhart said registrations in North Dorset rarely topped 5%, which was a lot lower than other areas of the county, where in some areas 15% had registered.