RESIDENTS in Burtonwood face a postcode lottery as only some will be set to benefit from fast broadband speeds in the next month.

Others will be forced to wait until the end of the year due to a delay in the roll-out of the broadband network.

A BT spokesman has said the hold up was linked to 'unforeseen problems'.

He said: “Openreach is working on four fibre broadband cabinets in the Burtonwood area and expect the first cabinet to be ready to accept customer orders within the next month.

"The remaining three cabinets are still being constructed and it is expected that these will be completed by the end of the year.

"There is always a risk of unforeseen problems with engineering and underground construction, however if the local project team are able to bring the deployment forward, they will."

The roll out was expected to take place last November but frustrated residents are still left waiting to gain access to better broadband speeds.

Council leader Terry O'Neill (Burtonwood and Winwick - LAB) has previously spoken out over his annoyance of the delay, branding it as 'unacceptable'.

The connection of Burtonwood to the fibre broadband network is being completed by BT as part of its commercial rollout.

It is not part of the Connecting Cheshire programme.

BT is spending some £3 billion to complete its UK rollout and the work is complex and has to be coordinated nationally.

The spokesman added: "This inevitably takes time and people and businesses in Burtonwood have been understandably frustrated that they have not been reached yet.

"We want to reassure people that Burtonwood is still part of this rollout and we will reach the area by the end of the year.

“The rollout of the high-speed broadband network is being done in a number of stages across Cheshire and the UK.

"Initially BT, itself, is covering about 66 per cent of the country – this is BT’s commercial rollout.

"The Government, as part of the Broadband Delivery UK programme, is, through local councils, extending the network so it will then give access to fibre broadband to more than 90 per cent of homes and businesses.

"In Cheshire this figure is 96 per cent.”