DEFRA secretary Owen Paterson has vowed to tackle Britain's poor rural mobile phone network.

Improving poor mobile phone reception in the countryside was an issue of national importance, Mr Paterson told a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party conference.

"I can't drive between any of the five market towns in my constituency while maintaining a signal from any of the so-called providers," the North Shropshire MP told delegates.

"I hope they can hear me and I hope they are annoyed because I am going to have meetings with them and get this sorted."

It was almost impossible to run a rural business efficiently without having decent mobile phone reception, said Mr Paterson.

Communications watchdog Ofcom published a report last year which exposed rural communities as having some of the patchiest phone coverage in the UK.

Older mobile phones were frequently better for making calls in rural areas than the latest smartphones, it suggested.

The study examined mobile coverage for consumers with a particular emphasis on voice-based phone calls.

It was conducted after stakeholders raised the issue of mobile "not-spots" – areas where people cannot access mobile services due to lack of coverage.

Researchers examined call completion and set-up using basic entry-level mobile phones (2G only) and the latest smartphones (2G and 3G).

It found no statistical differences in the performance ranges between handsets of the same type for call completion and voice quality.

In the wake of the Ofcom report, Vodafone offered communities hampered by the digital divide the opportunity to pilot new mobile technology.

The phone giant said its "open-femto" technology could provide vital connectivity, including 3G mobile internet, in areas with poor mobile signals.