PEOPLE in a village cut off by floods in early 2014 have something to cheer about - they've just been connected to superfast broadband.

Muchelney is among communities in the Langport area to benefit from the latest Connecting Devon and Somerset BT roll out.

Businesses and homes there are among 6,440 premises in the area that now have access to broadband speeds up to 80Mbps.

The new connection follows recent improvements by Somerset County Council which raised 500 metres of road by up to 1.3metres to avoid Muchelney being isolated in floods again.

Cllr David Hall, the council’s cabinet member for business inward investment and policy, said: “Stable, reliable superfast broadband connections are crucial to support communities that need to be as flood resilient as possible.

"The CDS connections played an important part in supporting people to rebuild their homes and businesses and get back on their feet.

"Together with the innovative road raising work, the superfast broadband speeds will help to secure the future of our villages with an extra layer of infrastructure.”

Among locals signing up to superfast broadband is Carolyn Roche, owner of Thorney Farm holiday cottages.

She said: “We’re delighted that we’re able to offer free wi-fi speeds of over 30mbps to all our guests in all the cottages – a vast improvement from the capacity of 2mbps we had (not at all enjoyed) previously.

“Superfast broadband has made a tremendous improvement to our livelihood.

"We can update the business website much faster than before when taking bookings and without keeping the customer waiting on the phone. “In light of the flooding, we have used the superfast connection to set-up a village communication system which allows us to send information to everyone in times of flooding."

David Warburton, MP for Somerton and Frome, said: “It’s been a real test in recent years overcoming the challenges of flooding.

"It’s great to see Muchelney championing how far the region has come and the role CDS has played in providing superfast broadband on top of all the hard work Somerset County Council has done to ensure these villages are much more resilient in the future."

Paul Coles, South-West regional manager for BT, said: “Our engineers played an important role in helping communities severely affected by bad weather get back on their feet.

"Now major investment in fibre broadband is helping those communities take another vital step forwards.”