WORLD class surfing has just been added to the many activities available for customers at Settle Area Swimming Pool.

Pool users can now surf the internet free of charge with guaranteed access to the world’s fastest rural broadband.

Earlier this month the pool was connected to the B4RN network, which offers broadband cable links to rural communities across north Lancashire and into the Yorkshire Dales.

Pool staff are now using B4RN for all back office work. This includes monitoring progress on children's swim lessons, processing customer accounts and taking payments, and managing content for our social media feeds, booking system and website.

B4RN is a community benefit society, established in 2011 to bring world-leading full fibre broadband speeds to under served rural areas. It has won numerous awards and featured in media reports highlighting the fact that remote rural areas served by B4RN can match broadband speeds normally only found in places like the financial districts of big cities.

It began in North East Lancashire and is now spreading into the Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria. At first it used volunteers to dig trenches to remote locations, but as it has expanded it has been able to use more professional services. The link to Settle pool was made by installing a cable across fields between the hamlet of Stackhouse and the pool building on the outskirts of Settle.

Customers can get their free wi-fi access simply by scanning the QR code on the noticeboard in pool café or just logging on to the network using the password ‘swimming’.