RESIDENTS in Hutton-le-Hole have said they are "stuck in limbo" regarding getting faster internet connectivity - and that the current sluggish broadband speeds may be deterring people from living there.

The villagers have been trying to get superfast fibre broadband in the village which has a current broadband speed of approximately one Mbps (megabits per second). Fibre broadband is able to deliver speeds of greater than 25 Mbps.

Villager Brian Simmonds said: "We have catastrophic internet, it's dire. We wondered what we could do about this."

Mr Simmonds said they contacted Superfast North Yorkshire (SFNY), the county council-funded organisation which is delivering fibre broadband alongside BT Openreach. He said they were initially told there was "no chance of faster broadband until 2018".

The villagers then looked at getting a community internet mast through a rural broadband provider - and got as far as getting planning permission for the seven metre tall mast with associated solar panels and small turbine.

It was decided in January that Hutton-le-Hole would be covered in SFNY's second phase of work, which is forecast to deliver superfast - or at least provide 'a broadband uplift' - to a further 15,000 premises by June 2017.

However Mr Simmonds said there were still no assurances and "we're stuck in limbo".

He added that poor broadband speeds are one of the reasons many villages are under-occupied. "This is affecting these communities," he said.

Ryedale MP Kevin Hollinrake said: "The problem is the lack of clarity from the providers. I don't think it's right that people are left in the dark. If you work from home you need good broadband. It's not a luxury anymore, it's a necessity."

Scott Walters, chief executive of NYnet, who manage the SFNY project for the county council, said they are still set for June 2017.

He said: "The contribution from the public purse for Phase 1 worked out at an average of £177 per premise, with Phase 2 costing significantly more at an average of £559 per premise.

"This has reduced recently from an average of £762 following a successful negotiation of additions to the contract with BT.

"The recent negotiation has enabled SFNY to include most of the properties in Hutton-le-Hole as planned to be upgraded to superfast broadband under Phase 2.

"In this context, 'planned' means the location has passed desktop assessments, but still requires a number of activities on the ground to prove the work can be completed within the cost thresholds. If this work proves positive, I expect the upgrade to be completed before the end of summer 2017.

"The nature of this infrastructure upgrade means that issues may arise at any time right up to final delivery. It is possible, if the work shows that the costs are prohibitive, the upgrade will not proceed under Phase 2.

"However, there is nothing at this stage of the process to indicate this outcome for Hutton-le-Hole."