The village of Northleigh near Colyton has finally seen full-fibre broadband rolled out to all residents, after nearly a decade of delays.

The villagers' fight to get connected was even featured in the Daily Express earlier this year in a story on 'Britain's internet nightmare'.

The paper reported that in 2015 community volunteers took matters into their own hands to organise 12km of new fibre to be installed. Five years later they had managed to get broadband installer OpenReach to connect 30 of the 120 homes, but the work then stalled, leaving three quarters of residents cut off.

Their cause was taken up by Richard Foord, the MP for Tiverton & Honiton, who raised the issue several times in Parliament and directly lobbied both the Secretary of State and OpenReach to speed up the roll-out and get residents back online.

After years of battling with Connecting Devon and Somerset – run jointly by Devon County Council and Somerset Council – and the Government’s ‘Project Gigabit’ programme, the residents were promised full fibre rollout by the end of 2023. But this work was still not finished in March this year, when the Daily Express visited the village.

Now, after another big push by the Parish Council and Richard Foord, the village is finally fully connected.

Mr Foord said this is a ‘big win’ for rural Devon and shows what can happen 'when local people work with an MP who champions them'.

He said: "Northleigh has endured years of unacceptable delays and neglect from both the Government and OpenReach. It should not take almost 10 years to get broadband installed for cut-off communities.

“The news that the roll-out has finally been completed is a big win for rural Devon and a huge testament to the persistence of residents, who refused to roll over in their campaigning.

“But despite this hard-fought win, there is still so much more to do. Many small villages remain cut off and left behind in parts of rural Devon like ours – that’s why I’ll continue to fight to ensure everyone can get a proper broadband connection, no matter where they live.

“The success in Northleigh shows what can happen when local people work with an MP who champions them and makes their voices heard in the corridors of power. This is what I’ve sought to do every day since I was elected and I plan to continue doing just that for people across Mid- and East Devon“.