by Alan McGuinness

Kent PC users have become the first in the world to trial a new internet super-dooper highway!

Ashford families are the pioneers on this planet to surf the internet at a world record speed of 200Mb.

While the rest of us make do with speeds hovering around the 3Mb level, around 100 homes in Ashford are testing a Virgin Media service to identify potential uses for ultrafast broadband.

What the super-fast service means is users can download the Star Wars trilogies in less than five minutes!

What's more, the entire back catalogue of Take That can be on their computer in a mere 15 seconds.

The says the Ashford residents selected to test the connection will be providing insight into potential future uses an ultrafast service may deliver.

Audio: Hear Jonathan Leggett discuss the price of the new broadband

Virgin claims its pilot is light years ahead of countries such as Japan and the United States, which have top speeds of 160Mb and 101Mb respectively. The tests in Ashford are expected to last between six and 12 months.

Dale Barnes, head of advanced technology at Virgin Media, said everything was going well so far. “So far so good, we’ve got some pilot customers up and running and they’re getting the full 200Mb as we were hoping so it’s all going good,” he said.