A career change with a difference is on offer from Britain's Antarctic Survey organization which is urgently seeking to hire a plumber and an electrician for the remote research station of Bird Island in the South Atlantic, more than 1,000 kilometres south of the Falkland Islands.

Applicants prepared to endure solitude in freezing conditions of around minus 20 degrees Celsius are expected to provide the mechanical and electrical maintenance of the station where scientists are studying the behaviour of penguins, seals and albatrosses.

While it will be impossible to augment the annual salary of 22,340 pounds (27,700 dollars) with call-out charges, accommodation will be free and living costs will be next to nothing, the survey says in its advert for the posts which have a duration of between five and 18 months.

"Where else can you work in an environment surrounded by penguins, seals and icebergs?" said James Miller, the survey's personnel officer.

"It's an amazing opportunity, a really fun place to work."

Stunning scenery is guaranteed, while applicants are expected to fill their TV-free leisure time with cooking and baking bread, and indulge in pastimes such as walking, skiing, snowboarding and learning languages.

But working in the so-called white continent is not a routine job, the survey warns.

Hours can be long, especially if a ship comes in, which can take 12 hours to unload its cargo on the island 500 metres off the north- western tip of South Georgia.

"Ultimately you could be working in an environment where resilience and teamwork can be a matter of life and death," the job advertisement says.

The deadline for applications is September 21.