AN internet provider has stepped in to make sure visitors to a York community centre can enjoy a cuppa while learning vital online skills.

TalkTalk has donated a new coffee machine to Chapelfields Community Centre along with two digital skills sessions to help residents get online and stay safe.

The gift comes as work continues on Talk Talk's full fibre network expansion project, which will provide ultra-fast full fibre internet to 55,000 homes and businesses across York by the end of next year and make it the UK’s first Ultra Fibre Optic (UFO) city.

The digital skills sessions will take place at Sanderson House, Chapelfields Community Centre on November15 and and 22 between 10am and 12pm.

Sessions are free for residents of Chapelfields and will focus on two topics: digital skills and safety online. Residents will be able to get help with any of their digital questions and learn about how to do day to day things on their phones.

About 1,000 residents in Chapelfields are now able to connect to York’s UFO network.

Chapelfields joins the 20,000 homes and businesses that have recently been able to connect in Dringhouses, Woodthorpe and Foxwood.

York’s UFO has also started building in Holgate and Poppleton where ‘narrow trenches’ are being dug along the pavements of the streets to be connected so that the fibre can be installed.

Homes and businesses in Rawcliffe, Clifton, Huntington, New Earswick and parts of The Groves have been able to connect for the past couple of years.

Helen Fletcher, marketing manager for York’s UFO for TalkTalk said: “Opportunities to provide communities in York with something that will make a real difference to them is a joy for us as we roll out Ultra Fibre Optic across York.

"We’re looking forward to meeting more of the Chapelfields residents over the next few weeks when we deliver the digital skills sessions.

"We will then look at rolling out these sessions to other community centres across the city.

"York will be the first city in the UK to have city-wide full fibre all the way from the exchange into individual homes or businesses that is both accessible and affordable for residents, transforming it into the country’s first gigabit city."

Research by the House of Commons Library, using information provided by Ofcom, revealed that York Central second fastest at 82.4Mb/s. This compares to a national average of 44.6Mb/s.