A GROUP hoping to bring super-fast broadband to the Colne Valley is calling people to its meeting next week.

The Colne Valley Fibre project has recently won funding for its plan to develop its own solution to help frustrated web surfers with their sluggish connections.

Rural web users tend to suffer slower speeds on BT networks because of their remote locations.

The problem stems from the physical distance of users’ computers from the telephone exchange.

Now Colne Valley Fibre plans to build its own network through community action.

Founder, Graham Mitchell, said: “Rural people and businesses depend on their internet connection much more than our urban counterparts and yet time and again we are at the back of the queue when it comes to newtechnological developments.

“What is increasingly clear is that if we wait for the likes of BT or Virgin to deliver a solution we will probably be waiting for a very long time indeed.

“By developing our own network we can avoid being on the losing side of the new digital divide.”

The meeting will run in the free Slaithwaite and Marsden Renaissance Conference at Marsden Junior School this Saturday.

The conference runs from 10.30am to 3pm and the Colne Valley Fibre seminar is at 1.30pm.