Faster internet services have been brought to two rural Cornish communities by Vtesse Broadband, it has been reported.

The internet service provider is now offering enhanced broadband speeds to the 574 households in Higher Pill and 262 in Hatt.

Having previously only had access to 2Mb download speeds via copper lines, local consumers can now reap the benefits of 40Mb fibre-to-the-cabinet broadband.

Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse Broadband, said Hatt and Higher Pill, like many other places in Cornwall and the south-west of England, have endured "painfully slow" broadband connections.

He said this has made even the simplest online task such as sending an email attachment, checking the weather forecast or uploading photos to Facebook, "a complete chore".

Mr Paul added: "Super-fast broadband makes all this information available at the touch of a button and really has the power to change the way these communities use the internet for work, study and leisure."

The Federation of Small Businesses has repeatedly called for investment in the rural broadband infrastructure, in order to narrow the growing digital divide.