SUFFOLK and Essex have made a slow start to a BT initiative to bring “super-fast” broadband to the UK towns and villages who want it the most.

The telecommunications giant’s Race to Infinity campaign is urging people to register a vote for the telephone and internet exchange in their area to be upgraded.

The five UK communities with the highest percentage of votes will benefit from super-fast broadband by 2012 at the latest, as will any community where at least 75% of homes and businesses have registered a vote.

The �2.5billion initiative was launched in October and ends on December 31 and BT bosses said Suffolk and Essex were being left behind in the voting.

The community which has shown the most interest is Wickham Market, which has received 221 votes (11.8% of users on the exchange). But it is ranked only 113th in the UK.

The other top-performing communities in Suffolk are: Cockfield Green (110 votes, 10.76% of users), Nayland (154, 10.54%), East Bergholt (110, 10.36%), Snape (103, 10.3%) and Boxford (123, 8.7%).

Top-perfomers in Essex include Fordham in 60th place overall (372, 16.55%), Kelvedon (284, 11.9%) and Ardleigh (129, 11.34%).

BT’s East of England regional director Peter McCarthy-Ward urged more people to vote.

“Every vote does count because, whether communities win the race or not, each vote is an indication of demand for the next generation of broadband in Suffolk and Essex,” he said. “The data collected by BT will be used in planning where the roll-out goes next.”

Blewbury in Oxfordshire is leading the way in the race, followed by Caxton in Cambridgeshire. To register a vote, go to www.bt.com/racetoinfinity.