A radio station has outgrown the the tin shack which has been its home for almost three years.
Work began yesterday on #100,000 headquarters for Lochbroom FM, the community radio station in Ullapool, Wester Ross.
The move will mean longed-for luxuries for the squad of volunteer broadcasters, such as a proper record library, a kitchen, and a toilet.
Station manager Steve Boyle said: ''It will be great to have our own toilets. At the moment we have to nip into the Argyle Hotel across the road.''
The new headquarters in the Mill Street Industrial Estate will have two studios. ''It will be probably be the best-equipped station of its size in the country,'' said Mr Boyle after the ground-breaking ceremony yesterday.
Lochbroom FM received its full-time licence from the Radio Authority and began regular broadcasts to the Ullapool area in May last year. The aim is to give people interested in broadcasting some training and the chance to present their own programmes.
It will also offer firms and other organisations the chance to train their staff in media skills.
Cash has come from lottery funding and through the Scottish Arts Council, Ross and Cromarty Enterprise, and Objective One funding.
Chris Evans's Virgin Radio, which Lochbroom uses as its sustaining service when it is not transmitting local programmes, also put in #9500 when it was still controlled by Richard Branson.
The official opening is planned for March 5.
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