A hermit who was rescued from a remote forest in the Highlands, after his distress signal was picked up in Texas, will be desperate to return to the cabin he built himself as soon as he can, according to friends.

Ken Smith, who is in his 70s, retreated from mainstream life decades ago to live deep in the woods on a millionaire’s Highland estate.

He has no running water or electricity in the log cabin, but a stream runs beside it and he bathes by lighting a fire under an outdoor bath.

He built his simple home, which has a gravel floor, in the mid-1980s near a remote loch east of Fort William, on an estate owned by a millionaire laird.

Mr Smith was described by those who know him as a man who just happened not to like cities or normal life.

Local residents said he had no radio, but does take photographs, while his only other concession to modern technology is the personal locator beacon which saved his life on Sunday when he became ill.

He presses a button on it every week to let his family know he is okay, but last weekend he pressed the emergency button which led to a signal being picked up in Houston, Texas, and passed to the Coastguard in the UK.