Securing a festive turkey is not always the most straightforward of tasks. For a couple living in the extreme north-west of Scotland last year, it proved near impossible. Now, the story of how they finally managed it could be made into a Hollywood film.

John and Kay Ure live in the Cape Wrath lighthouse keeper's cottage at the most north-westerly point of the UK mainland. When Mrs Ure set out on 19 December for a trip to the shops, she faced the kind of journey which would convince the ambitious festive chef to plump for a nut cutlet instead.

First, Mr Ure drove his wife the 11 miles to a jetty where their boat was moored, and the pair crossed the Kyle of Durness sea loch together. Then Mrs Ure took a 100-mile bus journey to Inverness, where she managed to buy a turkey before the shops closed. But on the return trip, she was thwarted by snow which stopped her completing the final 11-mile leg of her journey.

In the end, the unfortunate Ures had to spend Christmas separately, with Mrs Ure in a friend's caravan and her husband at home in the company of their six dogs. The awful weather conditions meant they could not be reunited for 30 days.

Now Furst Films, the company behind The Matador and The Cooler, is to pay the couple £40,000 for the rights to their story, an offer John said had come as a complete surprise.

"We thought it was a joke until we Googled them and found out they'd won a few Golden Globes," he told the BBC. "It's not just about the turkey, it's about our life story and how we came to be here. People find it intriguing that we're living this kind of lifestyle up here but we're used to it and it's a pleasant way to live."

He added: "This Christmas I'm going to be better prepared, and keep the wife on a shorter lead."