ANGER has spread through the business communities of Wadebridge and Padstow after it was revealed the towns will be among the last in Cornwall to get high speed internet.

Superfast Cornwall is designed to replace the old ADSL broadband connections with fibre optic cables at an estimated cost of £132 million. It is being funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) Convergence programme and BT.

However Wadebridge and Padstow and its surrounding villages will not receive the service until the end of 2013 – almost 18 months after the neighbouring town Bodmin.

Now Wadebridge Chamber of Commerce has started a petition to try and get the service sooner.

Vice-chairman Dominic Walford said: "It is a pity that Wadebridge and Padstow have been put back behind other towns in the county. Good quality, high-speed communications are invaluable to so many small businesses in our area, as so many of our businesses rely on the internet for their advertising and selling. The higher speed will only improve and enhance their offering via this medium.

"I know from my own business at Riverside Financial Advice Centre how important speed is when we download and send files to providers and clients. The current offering is unreliable at best and we regularly have issues with the broadband which takes up valuable time and money to sort out. I would ask for all members of the Wadebridge Chamber and Padstow Area Tourism and Business Forum (PATBF) to e-mail me a request for it to be done sooner to see if we can petition them to bring the service installation forward."

Nigel Ashcroft, programme director of Superfast Cornwall for the Cornwall Development Company, said: "Superfast Cornwall is committed to working with local communities and organisations to make this exciting initiative a great success. It is encouraging that these communities have recognised the value and importance of superfast broadband services. The partnership welcomes the opportunity to meet any community or organisation interested in this exciting technology."