Households are becoming increasingly frustrated at the failure to roll out faster broadband in parts of Barnet.

People in High Barnet say they are still waiting for BT to extend access to fibre broadband, and have heard “excuse after excuse” for the failure not to have done so already.

Eamonn Rafferty, of Strafford Road, High Barnet, said nine fibre broadband cabinets were missing in the area, which was “incredibly frustrating”.

The 57-year-old journalist said: “It means I cannot work from home, because the connection is not reliable enough. It is incredibly frustrating. I watch a lot of football too, and that is the only way you can watch a lot of games. Basic stuff is constantly buffering.

“People in one end of one street can have speed of 16MB, the other end can be two. There is a big discrepancy. They have been very slow to acknowledge it as a problem, and given no idea when they will address it. It is excuse after excuse.

“They should have been easily able to cable up these cabinets.”

Simon Golding has lived in Granville Road, High Barnet since 2006 with his family.

He said: “We probably had trouble since we arrived, but it has got worse. Because they don’t think it’s cost effective to put in, we have to rely on over the air broadband.”

A lawyer based in Fulham, Mr Golding added: “I have got two young kids, and it would be good to see them and work from home on occasion, but I do not feel confident with our broadband connection.

“It is not acceptable that living in a London suburb the speed of our connection is slower than the remotest parts of this country.”

The problem is not just confined to High Barnet, with people living on the new estate at Millbrook Park, in Mill Hill, also having trouble with access to high speed broadband.

Steven Valens, of Thirleby Road, Mill Hill said: “We are all suffering from slow broadband speeds, with no prospect of any change. Now there are a lot more houses in this area, and they haven’t given us any date for when we will get them.”

A petition, launched by Underhill councillor Amy Trevethan, calling on BT to extend fibre broadband across Chipping Barnet has been signed by 360 people so far, and Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers has also been consulting with the company.

GLA Member Andrew Dismore also raised the issue with the London Enterprise Partnership earlier this month, and said the problem came down to BT’s assessment of “economic viability”.

He added: “It is ludicrous that rural areas now get faster speeds and better accessibility than we can achieve in London.”

In a statement, a spokesman for Openreach, BT’s infrastructure division, said: “Low speeds may be related to the distance that these properties are away from the exchange.

“However, there is some very positive news on the Cab 38 mentioned by one of the householders. This and another Barnet cabinet – number 40 – are now included in the London Extension Programme. This is the second phase of the fibre broadband building programme and this is due to be completed by the end of this year.

“The fibre broadband network now gives access to this technology to more than 22 million homes and businesses – that is more than 75 per cent of all homes and businesses in the UK and the number is increasing at the rate of nearly 250,000 every three months.

“BT has invested around £3billion in a network that gives equal access to fibre to all broadband providers – not just BT. This network has been expanded by the Government’s Broadband Delivery UK which is boosting the network to beyond 90 per cent and will aim for 95 per cent in the next few years.”