A North-East "audio artist" is hoping to prove that silence really is golden.

Jonty Semper, 25, made a recording of the one-minute's silence in Hyde Park during the 1997 funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales - and has now put it on a vinyl disc.

The silence is broken only by a baby's cry, the odd cough, the distant sound of traffic and some feedback from nearby speakers.

It is the culmination of a four-year project in which he has also collected recordings of Armis-tice Day and Remembrance Sunday silences dating back to 1927.

Jonty, from Middlesbrough, said: "This is giving an opportunity to people to think about silence more than they would normally."

Newcastle recording company charrm expects the limited edition of 500 singles to be a sell-out on release, on the fourth anniversary of the funeral on September 6.

Jonty will also release a double CD of the collected recordings of silences on November 11.

Recording company spokesman Nick Hallam said: "It's not a disc which will go to the top of the charts; but the silence is really eerie, capturing the moment perfectly.