BT is taking the taxpayer for a £1.2 billion ride over a project to install superfast rural broadband, MPs said.

The public accounts committee accused the telecoms giant of "ripping off the country" and said it had a "quasi-monopoly" over the up-for-tender project.

BT said it was "disturbed and mystified" by the report, released after government and local authorities decided to subsidise private companies to connect unprofitable rural areas to superfast broadband.