Island family picked after search

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A landscape gardener and his family from Wales have been picked to move to a Hebridean island following a worldwide search for new residents.

Neil and Deborah Baker and their two daughters Elinor, six, and Anwen, four, from Llannon, Carmarthenshire, will move to Canna in the new year.

The isle's owners, the National Trust for Scotland, issued an appeal after the population fell to 15 inhabitants.

A couple from Scotland were selected in March to live on the island, off Skye.

The chance to move to Canna attracted interest from people from across the UK as well as Dubai, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Australia and the US.

The Bakers were among the select few to make it on to the shortlist.

Mr Baker will be employed by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) to restore the garden of Canna House, the former home of the late John Lorne Campbell, who gifted the island to the trust in 1981.

The gardener said he was delighted at the opportunity to work on the site.

He said: "It will be a challenge to bring the garden back to life as an attractive place that visitors can enjoy.

"It will be a particular pleasure to restore fruit and vegetable production for the community. I am looking forward to this new role immensely."

'Bright future'

Pete McHugh, NTS area manager for the Inner Hebrides, described Mr Baker's appointment as a "great step forward".

He added: "We had a great deal of interest in the places on Canna and we are delighted to have found a family with experience of rural life who can hopefully be a major part of a bright future for the island's community."

Sheila Gunn, 50, and former Royal Navy sailor John Clare, 58, were selected to live on the island earlier this year.