Need for betterphone coverage

The campaign, which is called Sick of No Signal, invites people to download a free app - Rootmetrics - from the iPhone App Store or Google Play for Android, which tests the mobile phone signal of your service provider and uploads the results to a national map.

It is being supported by Rye Labour candidate Sarah Owen, who said: “I may not often be on the same page as the Countryside Alliance but this is a very good campaign.

“Local people can upload and add to an online map which will serve not only to help people to decide which provider to use, but will also put pressure on all providers to improve their services and perhaps share masts in rural areas.

“It is unfair that people in small towns and the countryside often experience very poor reception yet pay the same price as those in big cities where reception is good.”

Up to 100,000 samples every day have been provided nationally by the app, which are helping to build an unprecedented picture of rural mobile phone coverage.

You can download your copy of the Rootmetrics app online at www.rootmetrics.com/uk.

The app will test the strength of your signal and automatically record the result. You can also visit www.rootmetrics.com to see the current results on an interactive map of the UK.

More information about the Countryside Alliance’s campaign can be found at http://www.countryside-alliance.org.