A WREXHAM County Borough councillor for the Ceiriog Valley believes the lack of broadband connection across the region has shown to be more of a problem during the coronavirus outbreak.

Councillor Trevor Bates has raised concerns about the poor broadband connection in the region for several years, and is worried it may leave people feeling cut off during times in which social interaction is being restricted.

He is also worried the poor connectivity may cause problems for those being forced to work from home under the current circumstances.

Cllr Bates’ thoughts have been echoed by residents Simon and Lee Adams, who are both currently working from home and are struggling to manage with the connection issues.

Simon, who works for the NHS, and Lee who works for Public Health England, believe more needs to be done to offer faster broadband speeds in the region.

“The Llanarmon exchange was upgraded to fibre a few years ago, but it hasn’t gone any further than that since.

“I’ve written to local MPs in the past and Ken Skates AM, who I also contacted recently, to see if there is anything that can be done to improve the access speeds down here given the current situation with COVID-19.

“At the moment, our children are probably getting the worse of it, because we’re having to tell them to get off the internet and even stop their schoolwork when one of us needs to do work.

“We can’t all be on it at the same time.

“In times like this, it feels as though it’s something we need rather than something it’s nice to have.”

Although Simon believes it is not the most important issue under current circumstances, it would be very helpful to keep people connected and up-to-date with everything that’s happening.

“I appreciate that there are other things people need to concentrate on at the moment, but it would be nice not to be forgotten here if this does go on for a long time,” he explained.

“Everything is being pushed online nowadays, and that’s not possible for a lot of people here.

“There’s no 3G or 4G coverage in some parts of the valley either, and the fact we know there’s technology to roll fibre broadband out into rural areas –it would be nice to see it.”

Cllr Bates agreed that work needs doing to improve the issue.

He said: “It shows how much of a problem it is in times like this.

“I’ve had trouble working from home myself when trying to live stream for meetings.

“It’s worse right now because it could disrupt peoples’ working at home and could make it difficult for people living alone to stay in touch with those close to them.

“I’m lucky to have a lot of land near my house where I can pop out and walk, but some people might not be able to walk far and might be confined to their homes.”