DONALD Campbell's rebuilt Bluebird will return to the water for this first time in more than 50 years this summer.

The team behind the ten-year restoration project will test the vessel on the Isle of Bute in Scotland - not the Lake District.

The record-breaking hydroplane crashed on Coniston Water in 1967, killing Mr Campbell.

It was brought up from the bottom of the lake in 2001 before volunteers set about restoring the wreckage in North Shields, Tyneside.

The team said: "Her long anticipated resurrection, upon which she will again run at speed for demonstration purposes before going on public display, awaits only an invitation to operate on a suitable waterway with Coniston Water being the team’s first choice. But before that she must be thoroughly worked back to fighting fitness along with her operating team."

After considering various UK bodies of water, the Bluebird Project team decided that Loch Fad would be the ideal location for crew training exercise. 

"We are thrilled that, after extensive consultation with a wide range of stakeholders on the island, agreement was reached to travel to Bute in August 2018, with assistance from the British Army, to get Bluebird K7 waterborne again and under her own power for the first time in over half a century as an integral part of bringing this iconic craft, along with her historic, educational and inspirational value back to the forefront of the public conscience."