BUSINESS and community leaders visited Westminster to push for improvements to mobile phone signals and broadband in rural areas.

The meeting with Ed Vaizey, minister for the digital economy, is the latest step in a campaign led by mid-Norfolk MP George Freeman.

Mr Freeman hopes to escalate issues with connectivity in rural areas and to demand faster improvements.

Faster broadband was vital to economic prosperity, especially for rural areas, he said.

“I believe we have a chance to unlock a ‘rural renaissance’ of enterprise – putting more jobs and working people back in our rural communities, so we can have heritage and prosperity.”

The campaign involves a number of partners including agricultural purchasing co-operative Anglia Farmers, the Country Land and Business Association, the NFU, the Federation of Small Businesses and Local Enterprise Partnerships in the region.

CLA eastern region director Nicola Currie said poor 3G infrastructure was accentuating the rural-urban digital divide.

“The countryside is suffering from lack of broadband access, which means it is deprived of a tool that will boost economic growth and promote social inclusion," she said.

“It is down to the government to reduce and, ultimately, resolve this disparity.

"I sincerely hope Mr Vaizey will listen to our concerns and escalate the need for a swift resolution to the connectivity problems currently facing those living in rural areas.”