THE last words of speed record-breaker Donald Campbell have been preserved thanks to the latest technology at a North-East college.

Paul Evans was the last person to hear Campbell's voice as he made his attempt to break the world speed record in 1967 on Coniston Water, Cumbria.

Mr Evans was in charge of radio communications when Campbell attempted to become the first man to go faster than 300mph on water.

Mr Evans, who lives in Darlington, still has the original radio communications for Campbell's last two runs in Bluebird - including the crash.

Realising the importance of the recording, he decided to get it transferred from the old reel-to-reel cassette tape into a digital recording in order to preserve the last moments of Campbell's life.

Darlington College of Technology's media department came to the rescue and offered to dub the old tape containing Campbell's final words.

Paul Baldwin, a senior tutor in radio journalism, has made a digital recording of the tape, which he presented to Mr Evans yesterday.

He said: "We are really pleased that we were able to help Mr Evans preserve the recording.

"It was lucky that we had kept some of the old tape recorders and, with the help of our digital newsroom, we were able to transfer the tape on to computer and make a CD of the recording."

The original unedited tape is being sent to the coroner's office in Barrow-in-Furness, South Cumbria where, at an inquest in October, a verdict of accidental death was recorded on Campbell.

The master recording of his last moments helped to confirm his frantic efforts to de-throttle - a factor which contributed to the crash.

His last words were: "The water's dark green and I can't see a bloody thing . . . hello, the bow is up . . . I'm going . . . I'm on my back . . . I'm gone."

Mr Evans hopes a copy of the recording will be included in a planned museum to Donald Campbell and Bluebird.

He said: "The recording helps to prove that pilot error was not to blame for the crash and I am delighted that Darlington College of Technology has been able to preserve such an important piece of history."