RESIDENTS and businesses in York could gain access to super-fast broadband which would strengthen the city’s position as one of the top places in the UK for internet coverage.

City of York Council is in discussion with internet service providers to create city-wide coverage for the next generation of broadband. The authority has already installed a dark fibre optic network which more than 100 council buildings, including schools and libraries, are connected to.

Now it plans to expand the super-fast broadband connections to the private sector and the city’s 90,000 households.

The council’s head of ICT, Roy Grant, said it would be a vital step to attract enterprise to the area.

The improved network would provide connections up to ten times faster than the average internet links currently in York of about eight megabytes per second.

The expansion of the super-fast connections will help bolster the growth of the technology and science industries in the city. More than 35,000 workers are employed across science and technology-related sectors in North Yorkshire.

York already ranks among the top ten cities in the UK for broadband coverage.