RYEDALE'S MP is taking her fight for better broadband in the area to Conservative party conference.

Anne McIntosh is due to meet senior staff from BT to talk about the fact that Ryedale could find itself left behind with the poorest broadband and slowest speeds in Yorkshire .

She said: "I have established that Thirsk, Malton and Filey will have the poorest broadband cover and slowest speeds of any constituency in 2015/2016. It is intolerable that the coverage of 25 Mbps will only cover 78 percent of the constituency”.

“The House of Commons EFRA Committee Report on Rural Communities, which I chair, found that businesses, schools and households in rural areas have fallen behind urban areas when it comes to high-quality broadband access. Rural users are forced to rely on expensive and unreliable alternatives such as satellite broadband. As a consequence, rural businesses suffer from slower growth and are in greater danger of being left behind.”

The problems are particularly worrying given the increase in online systems for farmers. She added: “From January 2015, Common Agricultural Policy payments will go digital by default with no paper options. It is scandalous that farmers who are trying to eke out a living in these difficult times will have to rely on inconsistent broadband coverage to use the new digital system”.