Jane Dodds, Welsh Liberal Democrat Senedd Member for Mid and West Wales, has hit out over “disgraceful” internet speeds in Ceredigion.

Her comments were in response to House of Commons research, which shows that the County has the highest proportion of households with ‘very slow’ internet speeds in the entirety of the UK.

According to data from Ofcom and the House of Commons Library, Ceredigion has the highest percentage of households on ‘very slow’ internet connections (those under 10 Mb/s) in the UK at 18.9%.

The report also shows that Ceredigion has well below-average download speeds, ranking 562/650 for average speeds at 54.1 Mb/s, compared to a UK average of 86.5 Mb/s.

“It is absolutely disgraceful that Ceredigion is yet again being left behind the rest of the country when it comes to broadband access," said Ms Dodds.

"Good internet access and fast broadband speeds are more vital than ever with the rise of home working and increasing numbers of small start-ups.

"If we are to attract businesses and new investment to Ceredigion we need better digital connectivity.

“The Conservative Government in Westminster urgently needs to prioritise increasing internet speeds in rural Wales, but sadly they seem to be going in the opposite direction.

"The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has quietly scrapped the key Conservative manifesto 'to give all homes across the UK superfast broadband by 2025' in winter 2020.

“We would also like to see the Labour-Plaid Cymru administration in the Senedd to use the limited powers over broadband they have to use the Superfast Cymru programme to close the rural-urban gap in Wales, or else we will only see the digital divide between South Wales and rest of Wales continue to grow.”

According to data from Ofcom and the House of Commons Library, 12.2% of homes in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire also have extremely slow internet access (below 10 Mb/s), while 11.9% of households in Preseli Pembrokeshire fall into the same category.

The report also shows that both Pembrokeshire constituencies have well below average download speeds, with Preseli Pembrokeshire ranking 594/650 for average speeds at 49.9 Mb/s compared to a UK average of 86.5 Mb/s whilst Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire ranks 580/650 with average speeds of 51.8 Mb/s.

Montgomeryshire has the second largest proportion of slow internet speeds in the UK after Ceredigion, and ranks 570/650 for average speeds at 53.4 Mb/s.