Almost three-quarters of UK households now have access to some form of broadband, with take-up of the technology higher in rural than urban areas, new figures have shown.

Ofcom's Communications Market 2010 report has found that broadband take-up in the UK has now reached 71%, while England's take-up population (73%) is the highest among the UK's four nations - more than doubling over the past five years.

The communications industry regulator said that online viewing in rural areas has increased by 11% to 44%, overtaking levels of online viewing in urban areas.

Take-up is highest in the South East in terms of density, with eight out of 10 households having access to broadband, and lowest in the West Midlands (62% ).

Mobile broadband take-up in inner London is highest in the UK, while among the UK nations take-up of mobile broadband is highest in Wales (16%).

About a quarter of the London's residents browse the web through their mobile phones, higher than the English average (17%) and the UK average (16%).