Urgent action is required to improve the UK’s internet services, David Cameron has said.

The Conservative leader said the UK had "some of the slowest broadband speeds in the developed world" and had fallen behind countries such as Japan, Germany and America in investing in next-generation fibre optic networks.

Mr Cameron said: "Fibre optic broadband is changing the way people work and do business, and it has the potential to completely transform our economy.

“It could open up new markets for our creative industries, promote innovation, create family-friendly jobs – as people can work from home – and help reduce carbon emissions.”

He said the party would try to ensure every home in the UK had fast broadband by 2018. He said this would be done by creating conditions that made investment in a fibre network an attractive possibility for telecoms companies. The party will also set up a “full-scale review of the creative industries”.

"We need to move much faster towards a Britain where fibre right into people's homes is the norm for everyone, and a Conservative Government will do everything it can to make it happen within a decade," he said.