Over half of Europeans regularly surf the web

More than 250 million people living in Europe connected to the internet on a regular basis last year, according to a new report.

Research by the European Commission found that 80 per cent of Europeans have access to broadband.

The education and health sectors in particular have seen significant improvements, with 96 per cent of European schools now connected to the internet and over half of doctors transmitting patients' data online.

Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, attributed this success to i2010, the EU's digital-led strategy for growth and jobs. However, she called for more to be done to further improve online access.

Ms Reding said: "Some parts of the EU are still lagging behind and are not fully connected. All EU countries must therefore work harder to close the gaps, to enhance cross-border communication services as well as services that also reach rural and remote regions."

Around 69 per cent of Romanians do not have online access, while Bulgaria and Greece have similarly low numbers of regular internet users.