MOBILE phone users in Worcestershire are being urged to contact a campaign group to report on the strength of their signal.

The reports are being used as part of a campaign by the Countryside Alliance pressure group to map rural mobile phone signals in an effort to improve the service nationwide.

In June, the organisation put out a call for smartphone owners to download the free RootMetrics app and to send back samples of the mobile phone signal from where they are.

Since then, the number of samples to the database has increased by 66 per cent and 95,000 new reports are made every day.

“We all pay the same to run our mobile phones, regardless of where we live,” said Countryside Alliance executive chairman Barney White-Spunner.

“But rural businesses and individuals tell the Countryside Alliance that they have a far poorer service.

“That’s why we are searching for evidence to ensure people living in the countryside are not forgotten by mobile phone companies and that they benefit from the Government’s £150 million mobile phone infrastructure project.

“We are delighted by the fantastic support we are getting for our campaign.”

Mr White-Spunner said the data was vital in planning the next step of the campaign – to lobby government officials for action.

“It is very important that we can prove that some people living in the countryside are not getting a good deal from their phone service providers,” he said.

“The rates of phone coverage quoted by phone companies are a best case scenario.

“Once we have the true picture, we can lobby government and the phone companies to improve your phone service.”

To take part, users need to download the free RootMetrics app on to their smartphone or tablet and use it when they are at home or out and about.