A broadband boost for rural Gloucestershire is one step closer to reality after a £7.5m investment was approved by councillors.

Gloucestershire County Council today announced a £7.5million boost to a scheme to bring high-speed broadband to the county.

Councillors agreed a proposal to pump £7.5million worth of investment over the next two years, into improving broadband in rural areas.

The proposal will now be put to a meeting of full Council on February 22.

Gloucestershire County Council Leader Mark Hawthorne said: "This is a major opportunity for Gloucestershire and in tough times we have to be willing to make brave decisions.

"High-speed broadband will make a huge difference to our rural communities, opening up opportunities for business, creating jobs and providing a lifeline to many residents. The £7.5 million we invest now is match-funding the Government's contribution and will also help attract significant private sector investment."

Borders Broadband is managed by a partnership of Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucestershire's Local Enterprise Partnership, Herefordshire Council and government agency, Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK).

The project will enable county-wide coverage of two megabits per second broadband by 2015 and as close to 100 per cent coverage of 30Mbps as possible by 2018.

Gillian Kenny Associates Ltd in Newnham, specialises in medical market research and employs 30 people, relying heavily on video streaming. But the business is being held back by Newnham's slow and unreliable internet service, despite paying for an improved business broadband service.

MD Chris Kenny said: "Our connection is just about adequate but if we wanted to do more video streaming, we wouldn't be able to. I welcome the drive for high-speed broadband in rural areas, it's going to be the difference between us staying here, or having to relocate.

"It's a tough market place out there, and in order to compete we have to have the same access to fast broadband as people in London or Birmingham."

The Borders Broadband project was awarded £14.4 million for Gloucestershire and Herefordshire, making this one of the first parts of the UK to share £530 million Government cash for rural high-speed broadband.

Diane Savory, chair of Gloucestershire's Local Enterprise Partnership, which is driven by GFirst, said: "Reliable broadband services are vital for the county's businesses if they are to compete on a level playing field nationally and globally. But having faster broadband across the county will do more than that, it will actually give our businesses far more potential for growth and help them move into different markets to grow their business and Gloucestershire."

The infrastructure offering access to improved internet services will be introduced initially in the Forest of Dean and south Herefordshire.