THREE Ryedale town are among those which could benefit from a £15.1 million boost to North Yorkshire’s digital infrastructure.

North Yorkshire County Council (NYCC) and its wholly-owned company NYnet applied for funding from the department of digital, culture, media and sport’s Local Full Fibre Wave 2 Challenge Fund.

Chancellor Philip Hammond announced in his spring statement that the bid had been successful.

The money will be used to connect nearly 400 public sector sites with fibre broadband across 16 towns.

This will provide the basis for the expansion of fibre connectivity which will add to the digital infrastructure in North Yorkshire.

The proposed towns include Malton, Norton, Pickering and Easingwold.

Cllr Carl Les, leader of NYCC, said: “We had strong support for our bid from all relevant North Yorkshire partners, including the MPs, boroughs, districts, health and blue light services.

“This was very helpful to the strength of our bid.”

NYCC’s executive member for broadband, Cllr Don Mackenzie, said: “The success of this bid underlines yet again the progress which NYCC and NYnet have made in creating a very strong digital infrastructure in the county, which is good for our residents and for our businesses.”

He added that the deployment of the fibre is likely to start next year following a procurement process.