A WHOPPING £300,000 has been pledged by Gloucestershire County Council to help a drive to bring superfast broadband to areas including the Forest.

Last year Gloucestershire First, the council's economic arm, teamed up with Herefordshire Council to develop and submit an ambitious bid to Broadband Delivery UK which was looking for rural areas of the country to take part in a government-funded national pilot.

In the autumn, the council learned the bid had been successful, which means along with parts of Herefordshire up to 80 per cent of the Forest of Dean, parts of Gloucester and Tewkesbury will now be part of the superfast broadband trial.

Once up and running, this pilot could be extended across all of rural Gloucestershire.

In total, the project is expected to attract up to £12million of spending – half from the government and half from commercial broadband providers.

Gloucestershire County Council's £300,000 will come from the Recession Fund, which is aimed at helping businesses through difficult times.

Herefordshire County Council will also contribute £300,000 to the scheme.

Cllr Chas Fellows, Gloucestershire cabinet member for economy and environment, said: "Accessible fast broadband is seen as an increasingly important element of infrastructure for both business and the wider community."