MP has to lean out his bathroom window to get a phone signal

Bill Wiggin, MP for North Herefordshire, urged phone operators to offer cheaper rates to people living in rural areas with a poor signal.

He also suggested shoppers should be given a trial period to help them find out if the mobile they want to buy works at their home.

It comes amid claims large parts of south Shropshire will miss out on 4G as Vodafone is not upgrading masts in the area.

A large swathe of Shropshire will miss out on 4G as none of the masts due to be upgraded by a major provider are in that region, campaigners have said.

Councillors calling for better mobile signal say Vodafone's plans to upgrade masts to faster 4G signal have missed out much of south Shropshire. Vodafone says it is due to difficulties getting permission from landowners and authorities – but promises future announcements of improvements will include the south of the country.

Charlotte Barnes, Shropshire councillor for Bishop's Castle, has been campaigning for better mobile signal along with her Chirbury and Worthern counterpart Heather Kidd. Cllr Barnes said the news was another blow after battling rival firm EE most of last year over poor signal in the area.

She said: "Now we find that Vodafone and O2 do not look like they are going to do anything about upgrading their almost equally unreliable signal across the south of the county."

She said when councillors were invited to comment on the suitability of the Shropshire sites to be upgraded to 4G, she was stunned that of the 35 masts, none were in the south of the county.

"We have already been told that many of us will be losing out on superfast broadband and now it looks like we could well miss out on 4G," she said.

"Large parts of rural Shropshire are in grave danger of becoming economic backwaters simply by not having access to modern communications.

"I will be submitting a strong representation to these companies, urging them to give a firm commitment to upgrading south Shropshire to the same standard as the rest of the county.

"I will also be asking all of my council colleagues in the area to do likewise."

Jane Frapwell, speaking for Vodafone, said: "We recognise the importance of mobile connectivity which is why we spent more than £1 billion on our network and services across the country in 2014.

"Our network plans are constantly developing and there will be more announcements of improvements to the network in the whole of Shropshire."