A rarely-seen Scottish film that features the debut screen performance by Rikki Fulton is set to be released on DVD for the first time.

The 1953 movie Laxdale Hall also features the screen debut of actress Prunella Scales, who went on to fame in the role of Sybil in Fawlty Towers, and Scottish actor Fulton Mackay making an early appearance.

The comedy tells the story of a remote highland village - filmed in Applecross in Wester Ross - under threat by a group of politicians from London, including Fulton Mackay, and a group of poachers, including Rikki Fulton. Prunella Scales played the local school teacher.

The residents mount a protest over their poor links with the outside world, with those who own cars refusing to pay their road tax because of the poor state of the only road which links them to the rest of Scotland, but after spending a few days amongst there, the visitors come to appreciate the locals' way of life.

The theme of the film was similar to the better-known 1949 comedy Whisky Galore, as well as the more recent Local Hero.

It was based on a novel by Eric Linklater,and directed by John Eldridge. It was produced by John Grierson, a film maker who is now widely regarded as one of the most influential documentary film makers ever.

It had been originally intended to be an Ealing comedy, but when this fell through it was made by Grierson's Group 3 production company.

The film was last shown on TV in the early 1970s, although it is thought that it may have had a screening on STV some years later.

Laxdale Hall is now being released by West Lothian based Panamint Cinema, a company which specialises in releasing archive documentaries that focus on Scotland.

Russell Cowe from Panamint Cinema explained the difficulties he had in tracking down a useable print of the film

He said: "I had been approached two to three years ago by the distributors Hollywood classics, and they had Laxdale Hall on the list and I had often been asked about it, and after some hunting around we found a copy.

"There was one copy in the British Film Institute which was unusable, but we picked up a copy from a private collector which was in mint condition and looks superb."

Rikki Fulton went on to have a long career on stage, screen and TV, with his double act with Jack Milroy as Francie and Josie and his show Scotch and Wry TV show establishing him as one of the legends of Scottish comedy. He died in 2004.

Laxdale Hall is released on DVD on April 5. For more details go to the Panamint Cinema website.