Charles warns of threat to rural 'broadband deserts'

RURAL businesses operating in "broadband deserts" miss out on vital services provided by the internet, the Prince of Wales has said.

Charles said isolated towns and villages were placed at a "severe disadvantage" by being in the "internet's slow lane".

He warned failing to invest in rural economies would be "vandalism on a grand scale".

He also said it would be "disastrously short-sighted" if farming did not continue in rural areas.