THE submerged wreck of Donald Campbell's jet-powered boat which crashed on Coniston Water in his ill-fated attempt to beat the world water speed record has been found by divers.
Campbell was killed when the Bluebird 34 boat took off from the Cumbrian lake's surface and somersaulted repeatedly before crashing.
The location of Bluebird, and Campbell's body, has eluded both his family and divers who have searched the lake since the 1967 tragedy, but it has now emerged that a team of divers discovered the wreck at the end of last year.
BBC News reported that the Bluebird was found 150ft below Coniston Water by a team being filmed for a BBC documentary series, to be screened in April.
It was reported that plans are under way to raise Bluebird, causing a rift in Campbell's family.
One report said Campbell's third wife, Tonia Bern-Campbell, wanted the wreck left as a memorial to him while his daughter, Gina, was reported to be a friend of the diving team's leader, Bill Smith.
Tony Robinson, 56, whose grandfather was close friends with Campbell's father, Sir Malcolm, and whose hotel was used as a base for the adventurer before he died, yesterday said he had seen footage of the wreck.
He said he had heard of plans to raise Bluebird but did not know any details, adding that the decision on whether to salvage it was a matter for Campbell's immediate family.
Mr Robinson was 22 when, as a member of the three-man lake marshall's crew, he had the grim task of searching for Campbell's body after the accident.
Speaking from the Coniston Lodge Hotel in the village of Coniston, Mr Robinson said: ''The team have been staying with me and told me one day they had found Bluebird. The rough location has been known since the accident but no-one has ever actually located it.
''I was in a boat on the lake when Bluebird and Donald went down. After all these years to see it suddenly emerge out of the dark on the bed of the lake is certainly eerie.It was still recognisable, although a little bit covered in silt. The metal has stayed the same.''
Mr Robinson said his own views on whether Bluebird should be raised to the surface were less important than those of Campbell's family. ''I have mixed feelings and would not want to say,'' he added.
''Whatever Donald's family say should take precedence. At the time of the accident it was felt that it should be left where it was and I think that was my view.
''Over 30 years people's attitudes change but at the end of the day it is entirely up to his close family and I have always respected their wishes.''
Mike Humphreys, custodian of the Ruskin Museum in Coniston, which has an exhibition dedicated to Campbell, said: ''The feeling in the village is that it is wrong for someone to make commercial gain out of it.
''Donald Campbell was a hero in the village and his body and Bluebird should be left in peace.''
Campbell held the world record for travelling over water at a speed of 276mph when he took his jet-powered boat on to Coniston Water on January 4, 1967.
He reached a speed of 297mph on the way out but on the return leg, as the craft reached an estimated 300mph, Bluebird leapt from the surface and crashed.
A spokesman for the BBC said yesterday: ''We can confirm that the BBC is making a film about an attempt by a diving team to find the wreckage of Donald Campbell's Bluebird. ''Some wreckage has been found but we cannot confirm that it is Bluebird.''
lA British powerboat crew which broke or set five world records in 12 months has been honoured by its peers. The rigid inflatable Spirit of Cardiff became the first to circumnavigate the British Isles in a powerboat in June 2000.
Skipper Alan Priddy received the Royal Yachting Association award - a framed certificate signed by the Princess Royal, the RYA president.
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