SPECIAL tiny robotic camera pictures of the wreck of the Titanic will be featured in a keenly awaited new book on the famous sunken liner.

Ghosts of the Abyss: A Journey into the Heart of the Titanic by Don Lynch and Ken Marschall, with an introduction by James Cameron, director of the Hollywood blockbuster about the ship's ill-fated final voyage, includes some incredible images taken from deep within its hull.

Mr Cameron's fascination with the liner which set sail from Southampton on April 10 1912 only to hit an iceberg and sink 450 miles off the southeast coast of Newfoundland led to his return to the wreckage with the high-definition robotic

cameras.

The resultant images are the first to show the interior of the ghostly shrine, that almost a century on, still lies at the bottom of the Atlantic.

Among the pictures taken are shots of furniture in the dining saloon, the parlour suite and a mirror similar to the one in stateroom A-11, occupied by the fashion writer Edith Rosenbaum. It was said she made a great fuss when boarding the lifeboat because of all she left behind.

More than 1,500 people died when the Titanic sunk - more than 500 of the victims were from the Southampton area; the worst peace-time disaster to affect the region. The book, priced £20, is being published by Hodder & Stoughton on April 14 and will be available at most high street bookstores.