PEOPLE in Denby Dale are hoping to get a faster internet service.
They hope they can tap into a pot of funding, allocated to the region by the Government to improve broadband speeds.
A project to bring internet services up to standard in the Denby Dale area was launched more than two years ago.
Many web users in the area are unable to receive modern broadband speeds due to their distance from BT phone exchanges. But despite interest from dozens of villagers, councillors behind the scheme have struggled to make the project economically viable due to the high start up costs of installing equipment.
Clr Jim Dodds said they were now seeking their share of a new £530m central government fund.
West Yorkshire has been allocated £6.34m on the proviso it gets matched funding from Kirklees Council. This in turn must be matched by internet service providers to make a total fund of more than £25m.
Clr Dodds, said: “I’m obviously interested in the Denby Dale area, particularly the villages of Birdsedge, High Flatts and Upper Cumberworth which basically haven’t got broadband at all.”
Clr Dodds added officers at the council were already working on a local broadband plan for the whole of Kirklees.
There are 212,000 premises in West Yorkshire earmarked as having bad broadband, including all of those in Kirklees.
