It may be the 21st century, but not for several thousand households in Bradley Stoke.

Internet users in the town are complaining they are being left in the slow lane of the information super-highway because they can't get a broadband service anywhere near as fast as it is elsewhere.

But a campaign is gathering pace to get the whole of the town fast internet access, as the Government maintains it wants everyone to have one day.

When Bradley Stoke was being built, most of the 9,000 houses were linked up to the fibre-optic cable network now provided by companies such as Virgin Media.

But about 2,000 homes were missed out by companies such as Telewest in the early ineties and those residents have suffered from slow internet connections via the phone line, because the BT exchanges for the town – in Almondsbury and Filton – are too far away.

Chris Kelly, the editor of the Bradley Stoke Examiner, launched the campaign and knows the frustrations.

The 34-year-old, of Juniper Way, said: "The broadband speed in homes without cable is at least a third, sometimes as much as six times slower than what is considered high-speed broadband.

"My computer operates at only 0.5mb per second. It has been quite an adventure making a website on such a dodgy connection.

"We have the chance to bring Bradley Stoke into the 21st century if we can convince Virgin Media enough of us would take up their service.

"Our broadband campaign has already seen a motion from the town's Conservative councillors passed by South Gloucestershire Council, calling for faster internet."

Virgin Media say they could cable the remaining homes, but need people to tell them where there is a demand. So far, about 100 households have signed up to the campaign, but Virgin says it would need at least 10 times that number.

Bradley Stoke's new mayor Mark Forsyth has backed the campaign, as did the out-going mayor Robert Jones.

As a freelance journalist who edits several websites, John Bradbury's life would be a lot easier with high-speed broadband. Some houses on Ellan Hay Road are covered by Virgin Media's cable reach, but his is not.

And his BT broadband works at just a tenth of the 5MB per second minimum considered "high speed".

He said: "With the Government saying they want to roll out high-speed broadband across the country, I think Virgin, or in my case BT, need to pull their fingers out.

"I am online six, seven, eight hours a day and I could do my job a lot faster if I had faster broadband.

"I really do think the town needs this to move into the 21st century for internet communications."

The 49-year-old father-of-four added: "If Virgin Media – or any other company – were prepared to install fibre optic broadband, I would change supplier tomorrow."

To join the campaign, people living in Bradley Stoke should email cablemystreet@virginmedia.co.uk, including their name and full postal address.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media said, "More and more communities want access to faster broadband speeds so their families can enjoy the many benefits the internet has to offer.

"We're now keen to establish exactly how much interest there is in the area so we can determine the viability of extending our network."

BT spokesman Chris Orum said: "There are various reasons why the speed may be slower than in other areas. It can be the line quality, a problem with the service provider, or the distance from the nearest telephone exchange.

"Providing faster broadband across the country is something we are constantly looking at."