THE daughter of the late speed hero Donald Campbell believes a diver may have re-located parts of her father's Bluebird boat at the bottom of Coniston.

However, speaking 34 years after the accident which killed her famous father, Gina Campbell said she did not believe his body could have survived for this length of time.

Donald Campbell died on January 4, 1967, when, during one of his celebrated missions to try to achieve a new world water record, his boat somersaulted out of the water and plunged into the murky depths of Coniston.

The Westmorland Gazette reported how the battered hull of the Bluebird was located by divers shortly after the accident, but Campbell's body has never been found.

The BBC confirmed at the end of last year that it had been filming in the Coniston area.

It is understood it is making a documentary in the series The Mission, connected with Donald Campbell's speed attempts on Coniston.

Miss Campbell said the BBC had contacted her, and told her they had been working with an amateur diver who had been searching in Coniston.

She said that the diver had told her the lake was very dark and cold, making visibility difficult, but that he thought he had found "little bits and pieces", as well as a bigger piece of wreck.

Miss Campbell said that back in 1988, when a body had been found in Coniston that had wrongly been thought to be Donald Campbell's, she might have believed it, but 13 years had since passed.

"I suppose in all honesty one has to say there's no body anymore," she said.

"I don't believe a body can possibly be in any shape resembling what it was 34 years ago.

"A thorough search was made at the time by professional Navy divers."

She said she could see little purpose in ever trying to raise the Bluebird, which would be a major operation, and would not reveal anything not already known.

Miss Campbell, who now lives in Leeds, said she has twice visited the Lake District at the BBC's request, and has been interviewed on film.