A community of monks based on the Welsh island of Caldey are now selling perfume and sweets at lightening broadband speeds thanks to a new 30Mbps connection.

During the long dark winter months of the Welsh winter, the monks rely on sales of online goodies to help sustain the upkeep of their community.

Despite boosting revenue from their internet shop by 100 per cent in the past five years, they had grown tired of their tardy dial-up connection.

"Patience is one of the characteristics of monastic life, but even the patience of the Brothers was tested by our slow internet," said Cistercian monk Father Daniel.

After approaching local telecoms firm TFL Group the monks are now enjoying super-fast broadband speeds from the communications tower at Pentlepoir on the mainland.

"Broadband access has made a huge difference to our internet usage," said Father Daniel.

"We knew we needed a faster connection, but we had almost given up trying to find a workable solution which would give us an internet connection at speeds enjoyed by others on the mainland."

The Brothers now have plans in place to further develop their commercial activities courtesy of the new high-speed communications link.