BOSSES at BT have confirmed that the much-anticipated rollout of the high-speed broadband network in Burtonwood will take place later this year.

But when asked on an exact date, a spokesman has refused to provide more details.

Council leader Terry O'Neill (Burtonwood and Winwick - LAB), who has been campaigning for better broadband in the village for years, said this was 'not acceptable'.

He said: "I am continuing to press BT for as a quick a roll-out as possible for the Burtonwood area.

"At the Connecting Cheshire roadshow last year BT, without any prompting from me, said that Burtonwood would be connected by the autumn of 2014 as part of their commercial rollout.

"For someone from BT to say that Burtonwood won’t now be connected until later in the year is not acceptable.

"I will be contacting BT to press for a firmer date.”

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

Margaret Hayward, of Pinewood Road, said: "The broadband service in Burtonwood is appalling and totally unacceptable.

"We were promised high speed cable and European money was made available for it. So where is it?"

Barry Rickards, of Colne Road, added: "Not a day goes by that we don't get the server cannot display your web page. It is annoying and frustrating to say the least."

Julie Emmerson, of Sunningdale Close, said: "It is impossible to get a decent internet connection in Burtonwood.

"I find it extremely frustrating when trying to make a transaction that involves making a booking or payment online as it quite often ends up with me having to phone up whoever I am dealing with to complete or check whether payments have gone through."

A BT spokesman said: "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 of homes and businesses.  In Cheshire this figure is 96 per cent.

"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.  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 later in the year.”