People living and working in the Kirkburton and Honley areas can now experience life in the broadband fast lane.

The Kirkburton and Honley telephone exchanges have both been upgraded to fibre – bringing superfast broadband technology to the area for the first time – as part of the multi-million pound second phase of the Superfast West Yorkshire & York programme.

The announcement comes as BT faced criticism from MPs for “significantly under-investing” in Openreach, the arm of BT responsible for rolling out super-fast broadband across the UK.

Twenty-four new fibre broadband street cabinets connected to the Kirkburton and Honley exchanges mean that more than 5,300 homes and businesses in Kirkburton, Shelley, Upper Cumberworth, Shepley, Stocksmoor, Honley, Netherton and Thurstonland can now access broadband speeds of up to 80Mbps via their chosen broadband service provider.

Kirklees-wide, fibre broadband has become available in recent weeks to more than 7,200 premises, including more than 1,800 premises in Huddersfield and Batley, with many more set to get access across the district.

Some 33,000 homes and businesses across West Yorkshire and York will have fibre broadband by the end of 2018 thanks to £13m investment.

Tom Keeney, BT regional director for Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “This second phase of the roll-out will see us reaching some of the most difficult and rural parts of West Yorkshire and York.

“Rural geographies present many challenges not faced in more urban areas. Long stretches of narrow, winding roads can create the need for temporary traffic lights and other traffic restrictions with engineers often having to build long stretches of new underground cabling ducts. There can also be complications connecting power to the new fibre cabinets situated in particularly remote locations.

“The arrival of fibre in Kirkburton for the first time is fantastic news, however there is still more to do and, as well as continuing the roll-out, we are also looking at ways to make existing fibre broadband services go faster and reach further.

“We want to keep the momentum going so communities the length and breadth of West Yorkshire and York get the maximum possible benefit in the shortest possible time.”