Hartlepool pilot's mission to break land speed world record scrapped

Wing Commander Andy Green from Hartlepool would have been the man behind the wheel Credit: PA

Project Bloodhound, which aimed to break the land speed world record, has been scrapped after efforts to secure investors failed.

The firm behind the project went into administrationon Monday 15 October this year.

Since the announcement administrators have tried to find investors to see the project to completion. They needed £25 million of funding.

Despite overwhelming public support and possible investors, the mission has been cancelled.

Inside the cockpit of the Bloodhound supersonic car

Hartlepool-born pilot Andy Green would have been behind the controls of the Bloodhound land speed racing car, which was aiming to become the world’s first to reach 1,000mph.

The supersonic car reached speeds of 200mph during tests at Newquay aAirport in Cornwall last year.

Wing Commander Andy Green also set the current world land speed record of 763mph in Thrust SSC at Black Rock Desert in Nevada in 1997.

Wing Commander Andy Green from Hartlepool would have been the man behind the wheel Credit: PA

Over the past 11 years, the project has operated on a partnership and sponsorship model with support from companies including Rolls-Royce and Rolex.

Members of the public have donated to support the car's development and a global education programme, which has reached more than two million children.

Project Bloodhound was founded in 2007 and planned to break the land speed world record on specially built tracks in South Africa.

Project Bloodhound aimed to break the land speed world record Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

The Administrators of Bloodhound Programme Ltd said:

Project Bloodhound ran an education programme that reached more than two million children across the country, encouraging young people to get into engineering, science, maths and technology.