Superfast broadband could be on its way to Welshpool after the town was included in a plan to roll out the network to 3.2 million more UK homes.

Openreach, which is running a £20 billion investment programme aimed at delivering full fibre broadband to 20 million UK premises by the mid to late 2020s, today published a list of 251 locations where it will build its full-fibre network over the next three years.

Welshpool is the only Powys town included on the latest list, but it is also the first town in the county to be covered by Openreach's roll-out.

Clive Selley, chief executive of Openreach, said: "This year we've all seen the importance of having a decent broadband connection, and at Openreach we're convinced that full fibre technology can underpin the UK's economic recovery.

"We're determined to find inventive engineering solutions and effective partnership funding models to reduce costs and enable us to connect as many communities as possible across the UK without public subsidy.

"Openreach is leading the charge to help Government achieve its target of making gigabit capable networks available nationwide by 2025.

"We hope that by publishing our own plans, we can help ensure that taxpayers only fund connections in communities that really need public support."

Work is expected to get underway in many of the announced locations within the next 12-18 months, although due to the size of the build, some places will see work continue into 2024.

Across Wales, 45 market towns were included in the latest announcement, with Aberystwyth also among the towns which will be part of the roll-out.

The Welsh Government's Deputy Minister for Economy and Transport, Lee Waters, said: “While over 95 per cent of premises in Wales can now access superfast broadband we know there is more to do to reach the final premises.

"We have recently announced an extension to our roll-out with Openreach, focussing on local authority areas with less than 90 per cent coverage. This is alongside our other schemes to fund connectivity solutions for those not in any future roll-out plans.

"I welcome this announcement by Openreach which will further increase the number of premises which will be able to access full fibre, which has the potential to provide some of the fastest speeds available.”