A MOORS village is celebrating after the long-awaited arrival of superfast broadband.

Previously, internet speeds in the village of Hutton-le-Hole were described as “catastrophic and dire”, with speeds of around one Mbps (megabits per second) being common.

Taking matters into their own hands, villagers even got as far as gaining planning permission for a seven-metre-tall community internet mast - with associated solar panels and small turbine - through a rural broadband provider.

However in January 2016 it was decided that the village would be part of phase two of the rollout of superfast internet in the county, which is being delivered by council-funded Superfast North Yorkshire.

On Sunday, Superfast North Yorkshire emailed residents to say that the local telephone cabinet has been upgraded to fibre.

Local residents and businesses have welcomed the news.

Jennifer Smith, director of the Ryedale Folk Museum in Hutton-le-Hole, said: “The upgrade to superfast internet will make a difference to our work at Ryedale Folk Museum, as well as other businesses and residents of the village.

“I can see only positive benefits for us all.

“Today, the museum is as reliant on the internet as a key piece of our business infrastructure as the roads that bring our museum visitors to us.”

Kevin Hollinrake MP, who has campaigned for better broadband speeds in rural areas, also welcomed the news.

He said: "I'm very pleased, although at times it wasn't clear what would happen, and the village looked into an alternative mast at one point - so it needn't have been as difficult as this, but nevertheless, I'm delighted."

Fibre-to-the-cabinet broadband is able to deliver speeds of up to 80 Mbps, though this falls as the distance between the premises and the cabinet grows.

Villagers will not automatically see a difference.

Superfast North Yorkshire say that residents now have to contact their service provider and place an order with them for fibre optic broadband, with not all service providers offering fibre in the area.