West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin today called for the county council to put rural broadband at the top of the priority list to speed economic growth. The MP was speaking after the council was told it would be given £3.35 million to spend on broadband delivery projects to ensure all rural homes across the county get proper internet connections to their homes and businesses. Harriett has been in regular contact with Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt and his team at the Department for Culture Media and Sport. The money is aimed specifically at funding projects which will be ignored by the large broadband providers. Harriett said: “For many months, I have been battling to help our rural villages get online and working with BT to try and get proper cabling to outlying homes and businesses. “I have been working with the Government to lobby for funding to help fix this ongoing problem and I am glad that money will come into the county to address this key issue. “The larger populations will be well catered for by the big telecoms companies but rural villages are being consistently overlooked. I will be writing to the county council to continue to press for a prompt set of solutions for our rural villages.” Harriett added: “Most small businesses start off in people’s homes so it is essential that we create the right conditions to allow people to do this if they want. “We must not risk creating a two-tier environment where urban dwellers benefit from all the perks of fast broadband but the country-dwellers get ignored and marginalised.”