EXASPERATED villagers in Dodford feel they are being left off the map due to a “ridiculous” row between the council and a broadband provider.

Residents expected to have Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband installed by Gigaclear in September to resolve their long-standing fight for improved internet signal.

Yet the company has pulled out of Dodford – and now the whole of Worcestershire – after a dispute with Worcestershire County Council over “construction methods”.

It means Dodford villagers and thousands of homes across the county will now be left with slow basic copper wire connections, rather than the latest ‘superfast’ technology.

Dodford resident Susie Lloyd Jones, 50, of Victoria Road, said: “It’s ridiculous.

“We have a really big issue with internet connections and people want Gigaclear here as copper wires are dependent on so many things, such as weather. They aren’t good.

“People in Africa even get better broadband than us.

“You look at the map of the Midlands and look at where Bromsgrove is – it is right in the middle next to motorways and everything.

“It is not like we are in the middle of nowhere. It’s just baffling.”

The council's 'Superfast Worcestershire' scheme aims to deliver broadband to more than 95 per cent of homes and businesses in the county during 2017, focusing on rural areas.

But frustrated Dodford resident, Alan Carter, 70, of Woodcut Lane, doubts the plan.

He said: “We keep on hearing there is a plan to upgrade everybody’s internet signal but it does not appear to happen to us.

“It is very frustrating. In this day and age we are becoming more and more reliant on the internet. It is a growing problem but we cannot see any end to it.

“Our only hope of getting this sorted was Gigaclear. What do we resort to now?”

Resident Ian Martin, 65, of Woodcote Lane, added: “This issue has gone on for years. It irritates us that the council has failed to resolve this and do not seem to have a strategy.

“I cannot believe construction methods in rural Worcestershire are any different to anywhere else in the country.

“If you were Gigaclear and you have got one council being downright awkward I would not want to work with them either. It just beggars belief frankly.”

Gigaclear said they made the “difficult and disappointing decision” to pull out as they could not agree a “viable plan” to operate without widespread road closures, which would have been enforced by the council’s Highways Authority.

CEO Matthew Hare added: “We want to be able to use the same construction methods that we use in all the other counties we operate in, which allows the effective rollout of new buried FTTP networks to rural areas.

“Building all-new networks is disruptive, but is not commercially viable if we have to close most of the roads we work in.”

Work will no longer commence in Dodford, Weatheroak Hill in Alvechurch, Portway near Redditch, and Hanley Castle in Malvern, but work in Rowney Green in Alvechurch is continuing as planned.

The council said they worked with Gigaclear to “fully explore potential solutions” only to be left “disappointed” by their withdrawal.

A spokesman added: “Since Gigaclear’s announcement to withdraw, WCC has written to Gigaclear requesting they reconsider their decision.”

Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid has also stepped in to intervene.

He said: “This news is disappointing. I have spoken with residents about this issue in the past and have contacted both Worcestershire County Council and Gigaclear on this matter.

“It’s important that Worcestershire County Council find a solution so that residents can have the best broadband possible.”