Message received: Shropshire's mobile phone signal to get big boost

He said the service would be "dramatically transformed" and that people should be able to find a connection in virtually every part of the county.

Mr Javid visited Shropshire just weeks after he was unable to receive a petition demanding that current black holes in coverage be tackled.

He said he was "too busy" to accept the petition last month from more than 2,000 people, as part of the Shropshire Star's Get Us Connected Campaign.

But, during a pre-election visit to Telford, he insisted that he had seen the petition and that it had prompted him to take action.

Mr Javid insisted that a new legally binding tie-up between the country's biggest mobile phone operators would have a huge bearing on coverage throughout the county.

The deal, which has been agreed by EE, O2, Three and Vodafone, means that 90 per cent of the country's land mass will receive good coverage by 2017, and Mr Javid said that meant a big step forward for Shropshire.

"Certainly by 2017 you will see a dramatic change in coverage because of the commitment by mobile companies," he said.

"It's legally binding because of their licence commitment with Ofcom. It has teeth, they will have to meet this commitment, it's not something where they can ignore it if they choose to do so.

"Ofcom has also insisted on milestones to make sure all four operators are on target."

In December, the Shropshire Star called on the government to improve mobile phone services in Shropshire as part of the Get Us Connected campaign.

Civil servant Fareed Ahmed, head of telecoms consumer policy, received the petition and handed it on to Mr Javid.

Mr Javid yesterday insisted the petition had played a key role in the government piling pressure on the network operators.

"The more it is raised by the general public as an issue it always helps, so the fact the Shropshire Star had had a petition from so many local people made this an even more high profile issue," he added.

"That helps get more focus on the concentration and the result has been this landmark agreement we signed in December with all four mobile operators, where they have committed they will extend coverage to 90 per cent of the UK's land mass.

"That meant it was not just based on premises, as when you get out to the more rural areas you might not have many premises but you have a large tract of land, a large geography."

The minister was visiting Shropshire to officially unveil a new £7.7 million funding package aimed at extending the reach of broadband in the county.

Part of a £1 billion extension to the Growth Deal, which has already seen £75.3 million committed to transport schemes around the county, it will see the Marches LEP given million to support the roll-out of broadband in the area.

It is estimated the extra cash will help bring broadband to another 39,000 premises, and create up to 500 jobs.