VILLAGERS are struggling with slow internet speeds despite a supposed broadband upgrade.

Towns and villages not deemed commercial enough to draw investment from internet providers received a £35.6 million boost last year to improve their connections as part of the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) scheme.

This joint venture between the government, South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Councils seeks to boost internet speeds of properties located in current signal blackspots by introducing fibre-optic networks.

Speeds should reach more than 24 megabits per second (Mbps) and up to 80Mbps by 2016.

But the internet speeds have proved inconsistent in Olvston, which has recently been upgraded to the faster network.

Sandra Marr, who lives on the edge of the village, said she was getting just 3.5Mbps, while many other villagers were getting at least 40Mbps.

She said: “We do a lot of work from home and so a good broadband service is important for that and for the family in general.

“We were promised 12Mbps by our broadband provider but we are only getting 3.5Mbps at the moment.”

New green box broadband cabinets have been installed opposite The Green and in nearby Tockington.

Cllr Matthew Riddle (Con. Severn) said some Olveston residents were still getting a service from the old green box outside of Olveston Stores which is not connected to the new box in Olveston, but instead connected over a mile away to the Tockington box.

He said: “Better broadband coverage would be achieved if all of Olveston were connected to the new green box opposite The Green or alternatively a new green box was installed outside Olveston Stores.”

The council said individual issues with speeds would need to be directed to residents’ broadband providers and while cabinets in Hardy Lane, Tockington and Haw Lane, Olveston had been upgraded, the rollout was ongoing.

A spokesman said: “This is a complex infrastructure project which aims to achieve the best possible broadband coverage within the funding.

"Following the Government’s recent announcement of more funding from the Superfast Extension Programme we have invested a further £350,000 of match funding to help extend coverage even further as we remain committed to improving coverage across the district.”