Free Wi-Fi is to be rolled out in town centres across Kingston, starting with the Ancient Market Place.

This will be followed by other areas of the the centre, as well as Tolworth, New Malden, Chessington and Surbiton by mid-2018.

Kingston First CEO Kirsten Henly said: “This deal is fantastic news for Kingston, and is a great initiative to support its customers and businesses. Bringing free Wi-Fi to the borough will offer residents and visitors seamless access to more information about what’s going on, and what’s available to them in the local community, and will help ensure Kingston town centre remains amongst the very best in London.”

The council has commissioned communications infrastructure Arqiva to carry out the project.

Councillor Andrea Craig, cabinet member with responsibility for communications, said: “We are very excited to announce this roll out. We are a borough that attracts 20 million visitors each year for many reasons including our retail, leisure and cultural offer. Kingston is also the focus for some exciting regeneration, with more and more businesses choosing to locate and invest here.

“As a vibrant London borough, it is crucial that our outdoor connectivity is as good as it can be. We very much look forward to working with Arqiva to provide residents, businesses and visitors the connectivity needed for them to stay in contact, work on the go and browse the internet at leisure wherever and whenever they need.”