RURAL residents are being urged to join a campaign against poor mobile phone reception.

The Countryside Alliance is asking people in rural Lancashire to tell them where their local ‘not spots’ are for poor mobile signals.

People outside the UK’s big cities are up to four and a half times more likely to suffer failed calls on their mobile phones than those who live in cities, research by the group has shown.

People have been taking signal samples with their smartphones using RootMetric’s free CoverageMap app.

Countryside Alliance executive chairman Barney White-Spunner said: “Mobile performance, particularly internet access and call rate, gets worse the further you get from major cities. This is perhaps understandable in terms of population density and the logistics of connecting more remote communities.

“However the fact someone with poor service in part of the country can pay the same as someone with excellent service elsewhere clearly shows something needs to be done.”

For information, visit countryside-alliance.org