A PLAN to make sure that the whole of East Lancashire is covered by new ‘super-fast’ broadband could cost up to £57million.

A report commissioned by Pennine Lancashire leaders found the vital internet upgrade is unlikely to be rolled out to many parts of the area by private companies.

Recent investment has seen upgrade works take place by BT in Accrington, Chorley and parts of Rossendale.

But there are fears that the new fibre-optic lines will not come to parts of Ribble Valley and Pendle.

Mike Ranson, Ribble Valley Council leader, said: “This is about jobs, not just people wanting a better connection to YouTube.”

Experts from Blackburn with Darwen Council said 16 per cent of residents in East Lancashire will not have ‘next generation’ internet access by 2015.

That equates to around 39,000 homes and businesses. And a move to put the cables in on behalf of the service providers would cost up to £60million.

The new facility can offer over 10 times faster broadband connection with the ability to transmit high definition films.

Kate Hollern, Blackburn with Darwen Council leader, said: “We cannot spend millions of pounds on putting the infrastructure in place ourselves so we must demonstrate to the companies that the demand is here.”

BT said it was currently investing £2.5billion in upgrading broadband across the country.