BROADBAND services in the Forest of Dean are among the slowest in the whole of the UK, it has been revealed.

Only London, the Orkney Islands and Powys have worse broadband according to official Ofcom data.

And the findings come as Foresters have their last chance to respond to a council-backed online survey entitled ‘How Fast? How Good is your Broadband?’

The answer from el- ectronic component business RS Components, who have collated Ofcom’s data, would appear to be not very good, with it taking more than 25 minutes on average to download a 4.5GB HD movie.

The Forest has slower rates than outposts like the Shetlands, Argyll and Bute, Ceredigion and West Devon, while in contrast, near neighbour the Cotswolds has the fastest rate in the whole country, at just six minutes 46 seconds.

The report says: “The UK is still struggling to bridge the gap between those with sufficient internet access and those without.”

Meanwhile, the Forest Economic Partnership’s online survey is gathering data on broadband speeds across the district to identify where technical fixes are required and to inform policy-makers of the reality of rural life.

An FEP spokesperson said: “It is no surprise that 65 per cent of responses to date are dissatisfied with their broadband.

“The seven per cent that claimed to be “high ly satisfied” were those who are typically using fibre or a premium service… (and) only a quarter of the Forest are “OK” with the speeds they currently achieve.

“Half of those who responded so far have a download below 7Mbps. This is 3Mbps lower than the universal service obligation due for 97 per cent of the UK by March 2020.

“Indeed, the survey results in Hewelsfield are so bad they were immediately moved to FEP’s Bridging the Gap project as a pilot to find a cost-effective technical solution.”

Over half of Forest residents use their connection for business as well as domestic use, demonstrating “the need for fast, reliable broadband” for the region’s economic health.

Andrew Callard, FEP chairman, said: “When the survey closes this weekend, FEP looks forward to fully analysing and sharing the results.

“We wish to thank all those who have responded so far. But we need as many people as possible to take the five minutes to respond to provide greater certainty to the data.

“With higher numbers, the more weight it will carry in identifying more real quantified blackspots for technical fixes and in wider strategies such as the evidence base for Gloucestershire Local Industrial Strategy.

“So I’d urge anyone who is moaning about their broadband to respond and encourage their neighbours to as well.”

Surprisingly, London has the slowest broadband speed, with an average that would take 37 minutes 40 seconds on average, to download an HD movie.

But rural areas are still badly affected by poor connectivity, according to the Ofcom data.

An RS Components spokesman said: “Good internet access is vital for a strong economy – for consumers, businesses and social media users, to name a few.

“In July 2018, it was announced that rural businesses and communities were set to benefit from improved broadband access as part of a £45m boost by the government, through the Rural Broadband Infrastructure Scheme.

“The scheme offered grants to local authorities in areas where broadband services at speeds of 30Mbps or faster are not available or planned.

“But despite these investments over the years, the UK is still struggling to bridge the gap between those with sufficient internet access and those without.”

The report found that nine per cent of UK areas still had no good 4G coverage from any operator.

To do the FEP survey go to http://bit.ly/HowFastHowGood which takes you to a broadband speed checker and then asks you to complete 10 simple questions.