residents suffering snail-speed broadband have formed a cross-county action group in a desperate bid to get better connected.

Residents who work from home in Hindhead and Grayshott say it is not only blighting their businesses, but means property prices have been reduced by eight per cent.

One of the worst affected areas in Whitmoor Vale and Whitmoor Vale Road, where households struggle to get speeds above 1Mbps, spans Surrey and East Hampshire and has flagged up a deep divide in the support provided by county councils.

While Hampshire has invested £1million to help more remote communities to benefit from superfast broadband by providing a community match funding scheme, Surrey does not provide a similar scheme – but is working with BT to provide superfast broadband to more properties.

Surrey County Council defines having access to superfast broadband as the number of “homes passed”, which is the potential number of premises to which an operator has capability to connect in a service area.

Residents suffering snail-speed are served by BT’s Hindhead exchange, which has superfast capability, so they are counted as getting superfast, even though they do not have the vital fibre connection.

Hindhead and Grayshott Broadband Action Group has circulated flyers in the hope as many affected residents as possible would attend a meeting at Hindhead Golf Club, on Friday night, “to urgently discuss” the problems faced and try and work out the best way forward.

Group organiser Peter Wickins said: “We are one of the furthest away from the Hindhead Exchange.

“I think a lot of people will be concerned to hear slow broadband speeds can reduce the price of their properties by up to eight per cent.

“County councillor David Harmer will be there and we can see, as a group, what service we are getting and what funds are available to improve it.

“The infrastructure is in place – it just needs connecting, but when and by whom. Our MP Jeremy Hunt has recently pledged to champion all constituents to receive fast broadband.

“I’m not getting the service I pay for. We will have to decide whether to liaise with Surrey County Council or act as a group. I know one guy who works from home and his internet connection just drops out.

“This is an exploratory meeting to brainstorm what we can do. I live three miles from the Hindhead Exchange and I get speeds of under 1Mbps now.”

The group’s Hampshire organiser Carina Beck said: “We are 1.5 miles from Hindhead Exchange and cabinet 12. My husband works from home but originally only one of us could use the internet at a time.

“We are now paying for a satellite connection as well so we can be sure we can get on at the same time.

“That means we are paying double the price and not getting a decent service from either provider.

“Hampshire County Council provides matched funding of up to £1,650 per property for community groups, but Surrey is not offering anything like that.

“I had thought of self-funding but that won’t work unless I get neighbours involved, so we are looking at doing it ourselves and paying for it ourselves.

“Slow broadband impacts on our property prices and our quality of life.

“Everyone relies so much on the internet. If Hampshire can do it, I don’t see why Surrey can’t.

“This would be a perfect example, with some of us in Hampshire and some in Surrey and with some of us getting help and some not.”

David Harmer said: “The starting point will be: Do residents accept they are not going to get anything out of Openreach and Surrey County Council?

“I do think this is a difficult situation, because Hampshire residents are in a totally different situation.

“But the meeting is all about finding out if there is the will to try a successful community model. The GU8 Superfast scheme in Hydestile and Hambledon is the leader for that approach and that may be what most people have to do.”

The GU8 Superfast community project, which took three years and was completed in September 2016, was the first gap-funded community project in Surrey. It saw three new cabinets built to provide fibre connections, with fibre cables also erected above ground between poles.

Explaining why the GU8 group decided it was the only way to get connected, co-organiser Paul Osborne said: “The latest report from Ofcom is an interesting read. It states clearly the progress of the roll-out of superfast broadband is nowhere near as good as Openreach or Surrey County Council will tell you.

“Ofcom’s data on the coverage in rural areas is no surprise to us. It says about 1.5 million, or 48 per cent of, premises are unable to receive speeds above 10Mbit/s. This aligns closely with our own research in the GU8 area and is in stark contrast with Surrey County Council’s headlines that 97 per cent of residents can get superfast and it is the best connected county in the UK.

“The conclusion appears to be there is little likelihood superfast is coming to rural ‘not spots’ in the next three years. This was the conclusion of the GU8 Superfast Team back in 2013 and prompted the campaign to privately fund a solution.”