A RURAL village near Kendal has now got full-fibre broadband internet, thanks to the work of volunteers.

The Broadband for the Rural North Ltd (B4RN), is a community benefit society. Under this remit, it can only distribute profits to the community or expand the network. 

The aim of B4RN is to connect rural communities to full-fibre broadband, which offers much higher internet speeds. 

On October 28 the first connection was made at Crook Memorial Hall, and on November 1 the first residents in Crook joined the B4RN network. 

B4RN says that 'more and more residents' will be connected over the next three months as the project progresses to completion. The volunteer B4RN group in Crook campaigned to get faster internet in their village, and the build finally started in August. 

Key volunteer Nick Truch said: “None of this would be possible without people’s service requests and investment, landowners giving wayleaves, the volunteers' hard work and B4RN's expertise. 

"B4RN will help us work from home, whether you’re having zoom meetings or home-schooling. It will help to future-proof us as the digital world moves forward, with things like having doctors’ appointments from home or virtual tours of travel destinations.”