A CAMPAIGN committee has been set up to help get local residents and businesses connected to broadband.

The launch of the Easingwold Broadband Campaign aims to take the town up to date with the Internet technology, following Richmond and Thirsk.

Campaign committee chairman Martin Whillock said: "Broadband is a way of accessing the Internet at lightning speed.

"It will bring many new services to both homes and businesses, such as online interactive games, video streaming and data transfer.

"Our campaign has one simple message to BT Broadband. Don't forget about Easingwold, there is a lot of demand here, even in rural districts."

Easingwold needs more than 300 pre-registrations to convince BT it should upgrade its telephone exchange. With 112 pre-registrations already made, Easingwold is already a third of the way there.

Spurred on by successful campaigns elsewhere, the Easingwold campaign is making it as easy as possible for everyone to participate and pre-register.

A website has been set-up and residents can pre-register online by visiting www.easibb.org.uk