COUNTY hall bosses have launched legal action against a network operator which has reportedly left more than 400 addresses without access to ultrafast broadband.

Essex County Council says it has commenced legal action against the broadband network operator Gigaclear for breach of contract.

The council says the breach in contract has left more than 400 homes without a gigabit broadband service, including homes in Colchester.

Essex County Council has been working with Gigaclear since 2015, awarding four contracts which were expected to bring the "ultrafast" gigabit broadband service to more than 10,000 addresses in the county.

The council said three of these contracts remain unfulfilled meaning more than 400 addresses in the Colchester, Braintree, Epping Forest and Uttlesford districts lack access to ultrafast broadband.

The council’s decision to begin court proceedings follows unsuccessful attempts to work with Gigaclear through contractual mechanisms to resolve the issue.

Councillor Lee Scott, Essex County Council cabinet member for planning a growing economy, said: “We have made every effort to resolve these issues with Gigaclear, supporting them throughout the process".

"It is deeply disappointing to be let down in this manner. Rural connectivity is crucial, and our residents have been waiting patiently for better broadband access. We are taking this legal action to ensure they get the broadband connectivity they need and rightfully deserve.”

Affected residents have been notified of the legal action with the council saying further updates will be provided as court proceedings progress.

In response to this article Gigaclear chief executive Nathan Rundle said: “We have successfully delivered ultrafast full fibre broadband to over 90,000 properties in Essex to date".

"Over 12,000 have been delivered using the top-up government subsidy programme".

"We are aware of the application by Essex County Council and for legal reasons it is inappropriate for us to comment at this stage.”

Overall, across England, Gigaclear Limited has built its full fibre network to 555,000 properties focussing on the hardest to reach rural areas which are generally overlooked by other providers.

Over 73,000 of those properties, across 15 Superfast contracts, have been built using subsidy and a further 30,000 as a result of the Gigabit Voucher programme.

Gigaclear is now delivering under Project Gigabit as part of its ongoing build programme and looks forward to continuing to work with government to deliver ultrafast connectivity to rural England.