ALMOST one in five homes in the Borders don’t have access to superfast broadband, a report has found.

Figures by communications regulator Ofcom reveal just 83 per cent of properties in the region can obtain internet speeds of over 30 megabits a second. The Scottish average is 92 per cent.

And local MSP Colin Smyth (Lab) is calling on the government to step up its efforts to ensure the Borders is not left behind digitally.

He said : “It is no surprise to people living in Borders that we are behind Scotland’s big cities and towns in terms of broadband speeds and mobile signal. Local people in the Borders often go to use their mobile and find that they have no signal on their network. This holds back local businesses and our wider economy.

“It is essential that the Scottish Government bring forward a detailed strategy on their much talked about R100 programme to ensure it is delivered in full and on time.

“Both the Scottish and UK governments must announce funding for the Borderlands Growth Deal that includes a number of initiatives to improve digital connections locally and provide a real boost for local communities, businesses and the economies.”

In September, an Audit Scotland report stated broadband speeds in the Borders were the second slowest in the country. Only Orkney is worse off.

Local MP John Lamont (Cons) has also slammed the Scottish Government.

He said: “Despite being given more money than anywhere else, Scotland continues to lag behind the rest of the UK in terms of superfast broadband.

“Hard to reach and rural areas are not unique to Scotland, yet a rural home in Scotland is still much less likely than rural parts of England and Wales to have a decent internet connection.

“The Scottish Government is responsible for delivering broadband north of the border and they have some explaining to do as to why homes and businesses are so far behind the rest of the UK.”

However, Tweeddale and Lauderdale MSP Christine Grahame (SNP) has contradicted the figures, citing September’s Audit Scotland report, showing more than 90 per cent of premises in the region having access to superfast internet.

“Broadband access is in fact a matter reserved to the Tory UK Government, however because of the intervention of the Scottish Government, the percentage of premises connected to fibre broadband in the Borders is over 90 per cent,” she said.

“Without that it would be just over 30 per cent.

“The roll out won’t be easy to deliver, but that is why this SNP Government have matched its ambition for broadband with £600 million of investment – the biggest public investment ever made in a UK broadband project.”