A NEW report has found that almost half of Borders homes are getting broadband speeds below the legal minimum due to come in to force next year.

The UK Government has legislated to give all households a legal right to request a decent connection, defined as one of at least 10 mb/s.

However, according to the Which? Consumer Insight Report 2019 only 51 per cent of homes in the region are currently getting speeds above this target.

Only six other regions in Scotland (Banff and Buchan, Dumfries and Galloway, Argyll and Bute, Ross, Skye and Lochaber, Moray and Orkney and Shetland) have slower broadband.

Local MP, John Lamont (Cons), has been an outspoken critic of the broadband rollout across Scotland.

He said: “It is completely unacceptable that barely a half of homes in the Borders are getting decent broadband speeds, while in some areas the figure is as high as 79 per cent.”

However, Borders MSP Christine Grahame (SNP) said the Scottish Government has an “ambition to make rural Scotland one of the best connected places anywhere in Europe” and contradicted the figures. She told us: “The Which? research does not fully represent the results delivered by its Digital Scotland Superfast Broadband (DSSB) programme.

“A total of 84 per cent of premises in the Scottish Borders now have access to superfast (above 30mbps) broadband, compared to 20.8 per cent in 2014 and the Scottish Government has committed to making that 100 per cent.”