No boat on lake at time of wife's disappearance, claims Park Gordon Park did not keep a boat on Coniston Water at the time he is accused of dumping his wife's body in the lake, he said this week.

As Park gave evidence in his trial, he described three boats he had owned but at the time of his wife's Carol's disappearance in July 1976 he said he had just sold his sailing dinghy.

Carol Park's body was found by divers 200m from Coniston's shore in 1997 - 21 years after she was last seen alive.

A Scots couple earlier told the court that they has seen a man in a wet suit dumping "a heavy bundle" from a boat into the water.

Several prosecution witnesses have told the court they saw a boat or boat trailer in Park's garage, but they were not clear exactly when that had been.

Park said sailing was a hobby that started when his father bought a boat on Coniston in 1959. They had become self-taught sailors on the lake, teaching themselves the necessary skills and knots. On one occasion Park said they had capsized and "no less than" speed-racing legend Donald Campbell had come to their rescue.

But that boat was sold in the 60s and Park said the "fearfully fast" racing dinghy he had bought later himself was sold in June 1976. He added that it needed two people to sail it.

The court heard that at the time of his wife's disappearance he had access to a 16ft Cumbria County Council dinghy but that was moored on Windermere. Park said he did not have "the right trailer, something like a Landrover and a launch ramp" needed to move it. At that time he had started building himself a family-sized 16ft dinghy, The Big 0', but he said that took 18 months to complete.