As Covid-19 means many of us are working and socialising from home, we depend more than ever on a reliable internet connection.

And even as lockdown measures begin to ease, those reluctant to resume long commutes may choose to shun their office for good.

But an analysis of broadband quality in Basildon and Billericay shows this could be easier for some than others.

The House of Commons Library has produced estimates of average download speeds for individual areas within each parliamentary constituency across the UK.

In Basildon and Billericay, the fastest area was Barstable, where the average download speed was 88.3 megabits per second in May 2019, when the data was recorded.

This was significantly higher than the UK average of 60.9.

At the other end of the scale, the area of Billericay Queen's Park saw an average speed of 36.6.

It means even Billericay Queen's Park was above regular Ofcom’s definition of “superfast” downloads, which it defines as at least 30 Mbps.

The figures reflect speeds received rather than those available, as some people may have access to faster connections than the ones they pay for.