Campaigners have vowed to keep pushing for superfast broadband in Burley-in-Wharfedale despite narrowly missing out in a national competition.

The top six towns and villages in BT’s Race to Infinity competition will receive the new fibre-optic technology by early 2012, with Burley just missing out after finishing in ninth place nationally.

It is a blow to the village, which managed to claim 68 per cent of eligible votes and was ranked in the top five until the closing stages of the competition.

However, the people behind campaign group iBurley said they would continue to talk to BT in the hope of persuading them to change their mind.

An iBurley spokesman said: “BT should recognise that with 2,034 votes, we finished third in terms of the absolute number of votes and that the high number of votes demonstrates there is demand for faster broadband in our community.”