Rural residents and businesses are to be given vouchers to help with the cost of connecting to fibre broadband.

The government said tens of thousands of homes and businesses would to benefit from £67m investment in faster internet connections.

The Nationwide Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme (GBVS) will provide vouchers worth up to £3000 for a small or medium sized business or £500 to residents.

It is part of a wider government plan to get more homes and businesses connected to full fibre broadband.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said the scheme would builds on the government's £200m Local Full Fibre Networks programme which gives funding to local areas to boost full fibre delivery.

Some £95m of this funding was allocated at Spring Statement to 13 successful bidders across the UK.

Mr Hammond said: "We’re backing Britain’s small businesses by investing £67 million to bring full-fibre broadband to more businesses up and down the country.

    Reliable broadband

"This means faster, more reliable broadband access as we build the digital infrastructure we need to make our economy fit for the future.

Currently only around 3% of UK premises have access to a full fibre connection.

Vouchers may only be used to support the cost of eligible connections.

Where suppliers are able to provide qualifying connections to single SMEs, vouchers will be made available to cover up to £3,000 of eligible costs.

The only way residents can benefit from the voucher scheme is as part of a local community group scheme, which must also include small businesses.

Residents and businesses taking part in a group scheme are able to join together to pool the value of their vouchers.

    Backbone of economy

Within this group the total value of vouchers used by businesses must always be greater than the value of vouchers taken by residents.

Culture secretary Matt Hancock said: "Small businesses are the backbone of the British economy and now they can turbo-charge their connectivity with gigabit speeds.

"By building a full fibre future for Britain we are laying the foundations for a digital infrastructure capable of delivering today what the next generation will need tomorrow.

The scheme will be open until March 2021 or until all available funding has been allocated. There is more information on our website.

A market trial of the voucher scheme for business premises was launched in late 2017 in four areas across the country, with one area also running a trial of residential vouchers.

Around 1000 vouchers were issued to small businesses through this pilot.