Would-be castaways the Crosthwaites are among hundreds of people who have paid to join a utopian 'tribe' on an uninhabited Fijian island.

David Crosthwaite, 37, his wife Nicky, 40, and their daughter Holly, three, from French Laurence Way, Chalgrove, near Watlington, will give up their creature comforts to spend two weeks as part of a multi-national community on the island of Vorovoro - 200 acres of remote, cliff-topped jungle in the South Pacific.

As part of the as-yet-unnamed tribe, they will live in homemade shelters, collect their own food, and make decisions on all aspects of daily life on the island.

Mr Crosthwaite said: "I read about the project in The Times and to be honest, I thought it may have been a clever scam - so clever in fact that I was prepared to lose the money and give a round of applause for the people who set it up.

"But it isn't a scam - it's just an off-the-wall idea to create an online community of 5,000 like-minded individuals who will then be able to visit the island and build a sustainable, ecological community."

In April, customer services manager, Mr Crosthwaite, paid £120 for a year's membership of the tribe's online community.

From September 2006, when the project goes 'live' he will be entitled to vote on all aspects of how the tribe will be set up, as well as spend a week living on the island.

He will then take his wife and daughter to the island for two weeks in 2008.

The airfare is not included in the price, although lodging is - once early arrivals have built it, that is!

He said: "We are obviously hoping a basic infrastructure will be in place on the island, but it will still be a very basic way of life and we are looking forward to that.

"Before we had Holly, Nicky and I did a lot of independent travelling and Holly is also used to travelling, so we think it is going to be very exciting for her.

"An ongoing webcast will detail daily life on the island and will be broadcast on the net, but this isn't another reality television show - it's about showing how people can live and work together to make a sustainable community.

"We see it as being a cross between the television programme Lost - without the drama - and Castaway, but only warmer!"

The tribe is the brainchild of two British entrepreneurs, Mark James and Ben Keene, who aim to create an eco-friendly community. For more details visit www.tribewanted.com