IF you’re reading this on your phone in Wells, Somerset, then it’s a minor miracle.

That’s not because the area is a renowned hotbed for Swift Half haters (as far as we know).

But it’s sadly because the area has just been identified as one of the worst places to get an internet signal on your phone.

A report has just revealed that more than half of places classed as rural and deprived were 5G ‘not spots’ – a place where people have no access to the fastest mobile internet speed available.

That puts them light years behind urban deprived areas in terms of internet access, with just 2.7 per cent of those suffering the same fate, the Vodafone study found.

Other areas with horrific coverage where the spinning wheel of death is pretty much your home screen include parts of the Outer Hebrides, East Anglia, Cumbria and the South West.

Mail Online travelled to some of the worst areas and cleverly tested the signal by asking 50 residents to try to download the Blondie classic Call Me.

In Wells, no one managed it. Student Ellie Johnson, who lives in the area, told them: “I was just trying to get hold of my brother on the phone and I couldn’t at all. I can never contact anyone, which is worse because I can’t drive. There’s just no service.”

In the Cynon Valley in Wales, which is among the worst two per cent of areas in the UK in terms of coverage deprivation, the Mail was unable to find a single person who could access 5G out of the 50 they asked. That is despite customers paying the same rate as users across the UK.

Part-time accountant Tammy Llewellyn, 45, said: “There’s a lot of unemployment around here so giving people 5G that works is not a priority of the mobile phone companies. But it can be quite stressful and difficult without it.”

The Government announced in April plans to invest £150m in expanding 5G, with the aim to ‘deliver standalone 5G to all populated areas by 2030 to support the next generation of innovation’.

But Angus MacNeil, MP for Western Isles which contained areas without any 5G coverage from any mobile operator, said the Government is not treating all its people fairly.

He said “Connectivity is a huge problem in parts of the UK, not least the islands.

“Other parts of the world, from the Faroes, Switzerland and Rwanda, which are more mountainous than the Scottish Highlands, don’t have these problems.

“Countries that are more independent don’t seem to have these problems and it’s about time the UK Government treated the whole of the UK equally, not least over connectivity.”

Stay tuned… if you can.