RURAL residents in Lancashire have some of the UK's fastest internet speeds after creating their own community broadband network.

The Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN) initiative held a public demonstration event day at the Arkholme village hall on Thursday (14 February).

The first village to be connected under the scheme has delivered speeds of 500Mbps – some 1000 times faster than speeds typical in some other rural areas

"It just works – switch on and things load instantly," said Quernmore resident Bruce Alexander. "I can now watch iplayer in HD on the TV without a flicker. Fantastic."

Visitors to the open day were invited to bring their own devices and connect them up to the hyperfast gigabit fibre to the home project.

Other equipment demonstrated at the open day included smart TVs, video conferencing, YouView TV, smartphones, tablets and CCTV webcams.

B4RN is the only UK community offering gigabit broadband, meaning that consumers will have the opportunity to work, live and play faster and more efficiently than most places in the world.

The approach has been recognised as the optimal solution to the digital divide – bringing new jobs, opportunities and revenue to rural Lancashire.

"The support of the local community has been key to B4RN's success to date," said B4RN networking expert Barry Forde.

"There are many people and businesses within the area who are earning their shares through sweat and labour as well as investing their money."

Full details of the project with many videos on progress are available on http://www.B4RN.org.uk along with maps of coverage area.