A mobile cinema based in the Scottish Highlands has been enlisted to entertain British troops 2,000 miles away in Bosnia.

The Screen Machine - an articulated lorry which contains the big screen and 102 seats - normally tours the remotest parts of the Highland and island communities.

But on Saturday, the UK's only mobile cinema, set off from Inverness on a special mission to deliver blockbusters such as Gladiator and Kevin and Perry - Go Large to the 4,000-strong peacekeeping force.

It will take a week for the truck to reach its destination. The journey promises to be arduous with difficult tunnels, rock overhangs and several steep mountain roads to negotiate.

Four-week tour

But acting Screen Machine manager, Graham Campbell, said: "The route should not be too hard for our drivers who are experienced in negotiating difficult single track roads in the Highlands and Islands.

"We have had to scrutinise the route the Screen Machine is taking right down to the very last detail and only this week we received the last of the official paperwork for some of the border crossings."

The tour is scheduled to last four weeks and has been organised by the Services Sound and Vision Corporation (SSVC), a charitable organisation which arranges entertainment for the forces stationed abroad.

It hopes that if the tour is successful, it will lead to the construction of its own "screen machine".

The mobile cinema is due to visit troops based at Banja Luka, Sarajevo, Sipovo, Mkronjic Grad and Sanski Most.