He strangled Auric Goldfinger and drowned Dr No, but James Bond would have struggled to defeat the bureaucrats of the Western Isles council, according to the colourful former soldier who inspired some of Ian Fleming's thrillers (Mike Wade writes).

Count Robin de la Lanne-Mirrlees, left, has owned the island of Great Bernera in the Outer Hebrides since 1962, but at 83 he is one of only two residents in the island's local authority-run care home, which faces closure. Any such move would force the former soldier - who corresponded with Fleming - to leave the island against his wishes.

“I love this island and living here. The islanders have been my best friends. They are noble people and got me through difficult times. But now I face being evicted off my own island,” the count said.

“This has been a really distressing time. I just hope they have a rethink. Even James Bond would have a problem taking on this council.”

The count is said to have inspired a character called Sable Basilisk in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. The book is the first to feature one of the great Bond villains, Ernst Stavro Blofeld the head of SPECTRE, a criminal organisations whose goal is world domination. Blofeld is described as having no ear lobes – a trait shared by the Count’s Spanish ancestors, the Peyrigne de La Lanne family.

The count's mother, Countess Frances de la Lanne, a beautiful socialite, liked her Martinis “shaken, not stirred”.

Western Isles Council says that it is carrying out a full consultation on the plan to shut the home, which costs nearly £100,000 a year to run.

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