Get Us Connected campaign: More back better phone signals fight

As well as the online petition, which received 1,543 signatures, paper petitions at libraries throughout Shropshire have been signed by 261 people.

It takes the total number of people who have backed our campaign to more than 1,800, joining the Shropshire Star and Shropshire Council in calling for better mobile phone service in the county.

The petition will be delivered to the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Sajid Javid as well as the UK phone networks – EE, O2, Three and Vodafone – and Ofcom, to urge the Government to put pressure on the networks to improve the county's poor reception problems.

The campaign has also been backed by Shropshire Council, whose leader Councillor Keith Barrow received a flood of letters following his tweet about poor EE service in Oswestry, where he lives and Shrewsbury, where he works.

Councillor Barrow said: "It is like living in a Third World country and it should not be.

"A lot of people are feeling aggrieved at paying their monthly bills and not getting the same services as other people are.

"Mobile phones are a vital and important part of everyday life for people, especially those in rural areas who need their phones for business, to contact family and friends, to browse the internet and more.

"We are very fortunate to live and work in a beautiful county but this is an issue we have got to deal with."

He added that the problem did not just affect towns and villages but main roads.

"You get nothing on the A5 from Oswestry to Shrewsbury for example," he said.

Earlier this week, as the Shropshire Star brought the petition to a close, he said: "It has been wonderful working with the Shropshire Star on this important campaign.

"I would also like to thank everyone who signed the petition. It has done exactly what I hoped it would do, and I am pleased that EE is finally listening to the plight of our residents.

"I look forward to seeing improvements in the mobile phone and internet signals across the county in the new year."

The four major phone networks have all responded to our call for action and have all promised to improve their coverage in rural areas such as Shropshire – although they have said how long that will take.

O2 spokesman John Maley said a single grid being built by the firm along with Vodafone would extend 3G coverage to parts of the country which had been previously unable to receive it.

And Ally Stevens, for Vodafone, urged the network's Shropshire customers to apply for its Rural Open Sure Signal programme which uses existing broadband services in 100 rural communities across the UK to deliver a reliable 3G signal.

EE apologised for the problems and promised that it would launch an investigation.

Three has said it is adding a number of sites to its network across the north and south of the county including Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury and Atcham.

Spokesman Nicholas Carter said: "In 2015 Three customers in Shropshire will see an improvement in the coverage and experience they receive."