More than 130 businesses have volunteered to help BBC TV show DIY SOS build a house on Sheppey.

The programme, fronted by Nick Knowles, has taken on its biggest challenge to date to create a home from scratch in just nine days for couple Kyle and Garry Ratcliffe and their four adopted children.

On Tuesday the TV crew took over Sheppey United FC’s premises at Halfway from 8am to 4pm to meet all the volunteers in 15-minute slots.

VIDEO: DIY SOS has been back on Sheppey ahead of a build next month

The programme’s designer Gordon Whistance said he was blown away by the response from Islanders.

He said: “It’s been fantastic. Sheppey has done itself proud. For me, it has blown everyone else out of the water. The amount of goodwill has been breathtaking.

"By contrast to other areas it has been amazing.”

He added: “We had a steady stream of 130 companies turning up, from flooring and curtains to cushions and bricks to windows – the whole lot. It was a busy day.”

He said larger companies had travelled a long way to become part of the project and smaller businesses had “stepped up”.

He explained: “We start out with a whole bunch of plans, which is our dream for the family, and hope we can get it done.

“Little by little, we put ticks in boxes as people come forward and say ‘I can do that’.

“We take their names and details and help make it happen.”

He admitted: “The house where the family was living was woefully inadequate. It has now gone and has been flattened so there’s no going back.

“We have nine days to do this and, to be honest, we are all a bit scared. It’s a leap of faith by everyone. Let’s hope we do it.”

By Tuesday the family’s former home had been completely demolished.

A small, advance group of builders was pouring the concrete foundations and beginning to add the first course of bricks. The main build starts on Monday, October 3.

The Ratcliffes wrote to the show to ask if their cramped three-bedroom bungalow at Brambledown could be extended to meet the needs of their children, who have complex and life-limiting medical conditions.

Presenter Nick Knowles took to Twitter to ask for extra help for the project.

He said: “We had a look at the house but for once couldn’t extend it.

“So we decided to knock it down and attempt to build an entirely new house in just nine days.

“It will be a first for us. We think we can do it but we won’t know until we do it.”

The producers are keeping the finished plans secret from the family.