MP Tim Farron has called on a government minister to fix broadband issues in Eden villages.

The MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale wants Sir Chris Bryant, the minister responsible for digital infrastructure and telecoms, to help residents in Ormside, Warcop, Hilton, and Murton access better broadband.

It is unclear whether the villages will benefit from the Government’s Project Gigabit, which aims to provide high-speed broadband across the country.

They were previously on the verge of receiving hyperfast broadband through Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN).

However, the Government vouchers needed to make this connection possible were withdrawn at the last minute.

Mr Farron raised the issue during a Westminster Hall debate on Project Gigabit.

He said: "I want to press the minister - this is my one ask of him - on whether he will ensure that those parishes I have listed, Ormside, Warcop, Hilton and Murton, are either given a date for connection under Project Gigabit, or are descoped so that vouchers can be made available and B4RN can then step in and fill the gap."

"We had a public meeting in the snow in Murton last December - next weekend it will be 12 months ago - where BDUK made all sorts of promises of which it has fulfilled absolutely none.

"Will the Minister give personal attention to either descoping those communities so they can get broadband through the B4RN and the voucher system, or give Fibrus - and more importantly BDUK - a kick up the backside to make sure they bring the communities into scope, and give a date in the next few months so that those communities, which are very remote in many other ways, are connected properly to gigabit broadband speed?"

In response, Minister Sir Chris Bryant said: "He rightly gave a list of villages, which were Warcop, Hilton, Murton and Ormside, about which BDUK is presently in the process of negotiating.

"I do not want to descope at this point, because I very much hope that we will get to a resolution in the next month, but he makes a strong point.

"If it proves necessary to abandon ship, as it were, he can come back at me on that."