A TITANIC dream has come true for a master on the history of the tragic ship, Steve Rigby.

The Leigh postman has won the trip of a lifetime to visit the wreck of the so called unsinkable ship which went down in the Atlantic on its maiden voyage in 1912.

He leaves for Canada on July 26 and will descend 12,460 feet to the sea bed to examine the shell of the luxury liner in a six-hour exploration of the site.

Mr Rigby, 42, of Durrell Way, Lowton, has been fascinated by the shipwreck since he was eight.

For the past ten years, he has been secretary of the British Titanic Society and has a wealth of knowledge gleaned from every book written and every film made on the subject.

He said: "The ten-day adventure is worth £25,000. It's the only thing I've ever won, apart from a tenner on the lottery.

"It is the chance of a lifetime and definitely a holiday with a difference. I couldn't have dreamed of anything better."

Mr Rigby won the adventure through a competition run by SubSea Explorer, and Lycos, on the internet - purely by logging on to their site. His name was plucked out in a draw along with 15 other winners.

They will fly to Canada and leave St George on a Russian research ship, The Academic Keldish.

At the wreck site, off Nova Scotia, they will board three-man submarines for the descent to the wreck, which was discovered in September 1985.

Mr Rigby, who has been with the Royal Mail for 13 years, said: "I can't wait. I have been studying the subject since my cousin gave me Walter Lord's book A Night to Remember almost 30 years ago.

"The ship is now corroding badly and could collapse in on itself within the next 20 years.

"There are some serious questions to be answered - whether items should be recovered before they are lost forever.

"More than 5,000 artefacts have been brought up from the debris field, but there must be millions of pounds worth of goods still intact.

"There are certain parts of the ship that have not been filmed before, but there is a hole in the starboard side where, funnily enough, you can see into the post room, and the grand staircase with chandeliers still in place."

Mr Rigby's wife, Lynne, who plays with Golborne Brass Band, supports his interest in the tragedy, but plays no part herself.

He said: "There's no-one knows more about that ship than I do, and there are a few local connections."

The captain, Edward John Smith, had Leigh friends. Born in Stoke, he married a Winwick girl and lived at Spawell Cottage for a while.

One of the days out he enjoyed was a trip to Haigh plantations with a couple from Windermere Road.

Two crewmen from Wigan, firemen Noon and McAndrews, lost their lives in the disaster, and one of the ship's doctors, who married an Astley Colliery owner's daughter, because of his own ill health, was advised to go to sea - and ended up on the Titanic's disastrous maiden voyage.

Mr Rigby, who is building a model of the wreck, has been offered a video camera by JVC and sponsorship of thermal gear by Titanic Leisure Wear, and cannot wait to go.

He said: "I'm not scared by the two-and-a-half-mile descent in a small sub. It's more dangerous driving down the motorway. Let me at it." 'It is the chance of a lifetime ... it's the only thing I've ever won'