Tanera Mor in Summer Isles on sale for £2.5m Published duration 5 May 2013

image caption Tanera Mor has been occupied since Viking times

A tiny island off the north west coast of Scotland is being put up for sale with a guide price of £2.5m.

The 800-acre (323.7ha) Tanera Mor is the largest and only inhabited island in the Summer Isles in Wester Ross.

Current owners, the Wilder family, bought the island in 1996 after selling their dairy farm in Wiltshire.

Talks about a possible buyout by the local community living on the mainland nearby had taken place. However, it is now being offered on the open market.

The island is currently run by Mr Wilder's daughter Lizzie and her husband Richard Williams.

They held discussions with the local Coigach community to establish whether they would be interested in buying the island.

The Coigach community development company decided not to proceed due to the number of projects they are currently managing. These include two micro-renewable energy projects and the recently completed community purchase of the former Achiltibuie Smokehouse.

'Truly spectacular'

Lizzie Williams said: "After many happy years of calling Tanera home, it is time for someone else to have the privilege of looking after this amazing place.

"We greatly appreciate the effort made by the local Coigach community to consider the opportunity of taking on Tanera and we fully understand their reasons for deciding not to.

image caption The island has a cafe and post office.

"We hope that whoever owns the island in the future will enjoy the same warm and co-operative relationship with the community that we have for the past 17 years."

The sale is being handled by the Inverness office of property consultants CKD Galbraith.

The firm said Tanera Mor is "a flourishing tourist enterprise and superb family residence".

Occupied since the Viking times, the island has a cafe and post office.

John Bound, of CKD Galbraith, said: "The chance to own your own Scottish island is extremely rare and with Tanera Mor's thriving tourist enterprise coupled with being a truly spectacular place to live, we expect to receive a lot of interest as it goes on the open market.