Opposition parties have accused the Government of neglecting rural households after it emerged that 2.5 million homes will not receive the full range of digital TV stations.

Some rural households will receive fewer than half the channels available in the rest of the country, according to figures from Digital UK, the agency overseeing the switchover from analog television.

Half of viewers in the Borders TV region, which includes southern Scotland, Cumbria and parts of Northumberland, will receive just 19 of the 48 Freeview channels available elsewhere in the UK. Sky News, Dave, FilmFour and Eurosport are among the channels that will not be available

"This is excluding large chunks of the country - it's a very bad principle to establish," Michael Moore, a Liberal Democrat MP, told The Guardian. "There's a principle here, that people in rural Britain are somehow allowed to be second-class citizens. To some people this may seem a relatively small issue but it's symbolic of a wider issue - the neglect of rural Britain by this Government."

Broadcasters and ministers have said that providing every home with a full Freeview service would be uneconomical.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said: "Digital switchover brings great benefits for viewers in terms of increased choice. After switchover, 98.5 per cent of viewers will have access to around 20 channels from public service broadcasters. This is a substantial increase on those available through terrestrial television.

"It is a commercial matter for the commercial operators whether they extend their coverage beyond 90 per cent, not a matter for Government."

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