It is reported that funding is being sought for the construction of an airport on one of Britain's few remaining colonial outposts, the south Atlantic island of St Helena.

The governor of the island, David Hollamby, is in search of someone willing to build, run and maintain an airport - says The Guardian - providing an alternative to the current mainland link of a five-day sea voyage to Cape Town. The island's nearest runway is on Ascension Island, a mere two days by sea.

The British government has offered to pay about half of the airport's estimated £40m cost and private finance is needed to fund the balance.

Hollamby feels that the project could be worth millions of pounds in tourist revenue, calling St Helena virgin territory for the industry.

He believes that France is the island's biggest untapped tourist market - with many people curious about Napoleon's period of exile on St Helena - and is quoted as saying: We don't really feel we have the number of French people coming to the island that we should be getting. Maybe it's our fault for giving his body back in 1840.

Plans by the St Helena Leisure Co. (SHELCO) for an airport, 5-star resort hotel, spa and golf course were shelved earlier this year on environmental, safety and profitability grounds.

Discovered in 1502, St Helena became a fortress for the English East India Company in the mid-17th century. Following the Battle of Waterloo, Napoleon Bonaparte was exiled to the island until his death in 1821.It currently has a population of about 5,000. Details: www.shelco.sh / www.curnow-shipping.co.uk