AN OFCOM report which claims there is now no broadband divide between rural and urban areas has been attacked as unrealistic.

The report suggests that take-up of broadband in rural areas is now higher than in the UKs cities.

But William Worsley, Yorkshire landowner and deputy president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the claim was simply not true.

"The digital divide is about availability and the fact remains that in a significant number of rural areas, ADSL broadband access is simply not available," he said.

Internet access speeds were also often appallingly slow, hitting the viability of businesses.

Mr Worsley, of Hovingham, near Helmsley, North Yorkshire, said an increasing number of small rural businesses were asking the CLA for help because they could not compete on an equal footing with those who have a reliable ADSL service.

Angus Collingwood-Cameron, Director CLA North East said, it was not just high-tech businesses being affected.

He said: "Farmers are increasingly dependent on the internet and, as we discovered during last years foot and mouth outbreak, Government insists on communicating with them in this way."