More than 300 businesses and households have been given a boost by the arrival of superfast broadband in Tipton St John.

Scores of residents and firms have connected to the service since BT installed a fibre broadband cabinet to serve the centre of the village in July.

Dianne Mann, who owns a holiday let business in the village, said: “As a rural business operating from home, poor internet connection has always limited our incentive to modernise. Thanks to the stable connection, the ability to work from home has greatly improved.”

She added that guests were able to take full advantage of the businesses’s free Wi-Fi and manage her customers’ bookings more effectively.

Former councillor John Harding championed the need for faster broadband by working with Devon County Council and BT.

He said: “Aside from the superfast speed, cost and stability were two of the most significant motivating factors behind broadband uptake in the village.

“It’s no longer acceptable for rural communities like ours to be in the slow lane where technological development is concerned.”

The work has been carried out as part of the Connecting Devon and Somerset (CDS) programme to improve connections in rural areas that were unlikely to benefit from commercial investment.

East Devon MP Hugo Swire visited the village and said the installation ‘benefits all generations’.

Mr Swire added: “As many people work from home and many people start business from home, it is vital to an area like this.

“Children, parents, grandparents and businesses all benefit from fibre broadband. I want to see Tipton St John as symbolic of why we want to encourage people to stay on in this part of Devon and enjoy the same benefits and speeds of urban areas, while bringing up their families in one of the most beautiful parts of the country.”

The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has put aside £780million to extend superfast broadband across the UK by 2017.