Wealthy users dominate internet

Wealthy users dominate internet

Wokingham has most online homes

Three times as many well-off families are going online for the first time as those with low incomes, a new report has revealed.

The charity Citizens Online also found more than six times as many homes were online in some parts of the country than in others.

Wokingham in Berkshire was the UK's best connected town, with almost six in 10 households online.

In Blaenau Gwent, South Wales, fewer than one in ten homes had access to the internet.

'Internet divide'

John Fisher, head of Citizens Online, said: "This research now makes it possible to focus efforts on those areas that need the most help to bridge the internet divide."

The lowest internet uptake was in Wales at 29%, while the region with the most homes connected was south-east England with 45%.

Citizens Online is launching a joint project with BT to increase internet access in disadvantaged communities.

A pilot scheme will first run in St Stephen in Brannel, Cornwall, with a second in Audley and Bignall End in Newcastle-under-Lyme.