A silver trophy presented to Sir Malcolm Campbell for setting a new land speed record more than 70 years ago has been sold at auction for £43,300.

Bidding for the Lord Wakefield Trophy, sold at the Goodwood Festival of Speed near Chichester, was "furious", according to a spokeswoman for Bonhams auctioneers.

In the end it came down to an individual in the sale room at Goodwood and a representative of The Louman Collection in Holland, whose telephone bid was eventually accepted to applause.

Bonhams expected the trophy, awarded to speed addict Sir Malcolm in 1931 for setting a land speed record of 246.086mph in his Bluebird car, to sell for between £25,000 and £35,000.

"We are absolutely delighted," the Bonhams spokeswoman said.

"The trophy itself is a very beautiful object. It's silver and very heavy, plus it is associated with Sir Malcolm Campbell and the Bluebird land speed record."

On February 5 1931, Campbell's Reid Railton-designed Bluebird roared to 246.086mph in South Africa.

It was enough to earn him a Knighthood and the coveted Lord Wakefield Trophy, a silver masterpiece depicting a running speed god mounted on a marble base.