Government dishes out £114m superfast broadband funding for 10 UK cities

The government has announced the award of funding totalling £114m for 10 major UK cities to help with the provision of broadband across the country.

The cities in line for the funding were first announced in the budget in March and have now had their totals confirmed, with almost all being award the maximum allowance the government had planned to offer.

London has received the largest amount, at £25m, while Belfast (£13.7m) and Leeds and Bradford in a joint bid (£14.4m) also received sizeable chunks of the pot.

The rest of the funding awards are listed below:

• Birmingham - £10m
• Bristol - £11.3m
• Cardiff - £11m
• Edinburgh - £10.7m
• Manchester - £12m
• Newcastle - £6m

Newly appointed culture secretary Maria Miller repeated the government's mantra that boosting digital infrastructure quality and broadband speed in major cities will have a major boost on the economy of the nation.

"Fast broadband is essential for growth, and is key to the country's economic future. These 10 cities have produced ambitious and comprehensive plans, which will turn them into digital leaders, and give their local economies a real boost," she said.

"The new investment will help put these cities at the centre of the digital stage, competing for jobs and investment with the best in the world."

Since taking office Miller has also announced plans to remove much of the red tape burdening the rollout of fibre services across the UK by making it easier for firms such as BT and Virgin Media to install street cabinets and run fibre over telegraph cables.