Tuesday, December 30 1999

With a reputation for drugs, deprivation and unemployment, it is not the sort of area usually associated with technological innovation.

But the people of the Redbricks estate in Hulme, Manchester, are at the centre of a project that could pave the way for thousands of Britain's poorest communities to afford access to the Internet. The community is breaking with the past by getting together to gain access to the Internet for £3 a week.

They link with a computer cable through their roof spaces to create their own network, similar to those in schools. Each home can use one centralised leased line that provides high-speed web access and cheap phone lines, with the cost spread between households.

The community provides its own computers from second-hand dealers with a loan from a credit union. Residents say the project has united the community, with 60 homes on-line. Information on meetings and personal messages are being e-mailed around the estate.

If they hooked up to the Internet individually it would cost several hundred pounds a year. Nigel Stewart, director of Internet service provider XTML, who has been involved in the project, said: "I found if I put a leased line into my house and let people pipe into it I could put a lot on the net who normally would not have been near it."

The unemployed have been searching for jobs and the local pub is also on-line.Community worker Cae Gests said the scheme had been useful in reporting crime. "We can tell everyone about a mugging within 15 minutes."

© Express Newspapers, 1999