Work was due to begin on Calum’s Road in the Gambia this week after a Dutch road building firm stepped in to offer help and expertise on the project.

The story of Calum MacLeod’s efforts to build a road on Raasay inspired the people of the Niamina district in the Gambia to build their own road, which will connect their remote townships with the local market town and the administrative centre of Kuntaur 12 miles away.

The project is a joint effort involving the charity Gambia Horse and Donkey Trust, the community and now Dutch firm Ballast Nedham who are currently working in the area.

In December, Heather Armstrong of the charity approached Ballast Nedham contractors for help with the building of the culverts — the works boss happened to be there and offered help with both the road and the culverts. Ballast Nedham have now made a survey and plan of works and have agreed to do as much as possible for free, with the rest of the work at cost.

The local community is involved in preparations and it is hoped that through this, and help from the charity Engineers without Borders, the people of the area will be able to maintain the road themselves.

A further boost to the community came at the end of January with the arrival of seven British bikers who had undertaken an epic 4,000-mile fundraising drive from the UK to the Gambia.

Describing the bikers’ arrival, Heather Armstrong said she had never seen such a terrific display of appreciation before. She said: “The people who depend on this road made it perfectly clear just how much they appreciated what the bikers had done for them in raising the astonishing amount of £40,000.”

Strapped on the front of one of the bikes was a piece of driftwood from the original Calum’s Road and this will be enshrined in a presentation box at the beginning of the new road, with a plaque explaining the story of Calum’s Road.

Calum MacLeod’s exploits came to wider public attention following the publication in 2007 of the best-selling book “Calum’s Road” by Free Press columnist Roger Hutchinson.