Vaughan's version of events has been contradicted by The Guardian newspaper.

The England captain has been at the centre of a major controversy ever since his interview with The Guardian was published on Monday, in which Vaughan criticised Flintoff's drunken antics in St Lucia and blamed them for destabilising England's World Cup campaign.

Flintoff and five other players were fined for a late-night drinking spree after England's opening defeat to New Zealand, which resulted in the Lancashire all-rounder also being stripped of the vice-captaincy after an incident with a pedalo on the beach in St Lucia.

Vaughan's comments were described as "despicable" by Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes and on Wednesday Vaughan claimed he had been mis-represented and never used the word 'Fred-alo', which he suggested singled out Flintoff for criticism.

But The Guardian responded to Vaughan's claims by broadcasting the audio of the interview with reporter Donald McRae on their website, which confirms their version of events and that they did not misquote or misrepresent the Yorkshire batsman's views.

During the broadcast interview, Vaughan, talking about the World Cup campaign, is heard to say: "We had a great preparation week and then unfortunately incidents happened which did affect the team. You've got to be honest, it affected the morale, it affected the spirit."

McCrae responds by asking: "Was it...?" and Vaughan replies: "Fred-alo. It's bound to affect team spirit. From then on suddenly you've got players I'd like to see go out and enjoy themselves, but no-one would dare go out after that and you don't feel you can create a spirit."

Vaughan, speaking before England's third Test against West Indies at Old Trafford, had earlier insisted he had never used the word 'Fred-alo' during the interview.

Questioned about the interview at Wednesday's pre-match press conference, Vaughan said: "It's all been blown out of all proportion. One word changed the whole context of the article, a word which I didn't say.

"What I said in the piece is nothing I haven't said already in the last six weeks, but incredibly in the piece it didn't get mentioned that I opened up and said I hadn't captained as well as I can, I didn't manage the situation as well as I could and didn't play as well as I could.

"To point at anyone and blame them for the World Cup fiasco it would be Michael Vaughan, but I've never criticised individuals before and I will never do it again as long as I'm England captain."

Asked what the word was which was used incorrectly, Vaughan said: "I think you will find it was 'Fred-alo'. I never used that word. It might have been used in the question but I never used the word in a quote.

"As soon as you mention that you are pinpointing one person and the whole piece was supposed to be a positive piece about my return to international cricket and obviously someone got excited about a few quotes."

He continued: "I will continue to be honest but I've got to be a little bit aware that now and again you might get misquoted and stories like this may lead to a little bit of trouble.

"I'll learn from that. I hope everyone realises that it has been blown up. Myself and Freddie are great mates and I'm looking forward to getting Freddie fit and back in the team.

"He's the one player we miss desperately because of what he offers to the team and I'm sure the Manchester crowd will appreciate what's gone on and we're really looking forward to a good Test match."

Vaughan was due to meet Flintoff, who is recovering from a third ankle operation in three years, for lunch on Wednesday to explain his version of events but Wednesday night's revelations are bound to pose questions about the England captain's credibility.

Eccles-born Vaughan was expecting a backlash from the incident anyway in front of an Old Trafford crowd who idolise local hero Flintoff.

He had hoped Wednesday's explanation would have placated them, stressing: "I just hope everyone realises it has been blown up out of all proportion and we're just looking forward to a great game.

"We always get good crowds here and a great response and hopefully we'll get the same response this time. If you take that word out, I haven't had a go at him and I certainly never would."

He added: "I have a huge amount of respect for Andrew Flintoff. The piece didn't mention all the positive things I said about him - it was just a great story and it has kept everyone very busy over the last 24 hours.

"I can imagine when you get a headline like that, it was startling and to see that in the paper would be terrible. I wouldn't be happy as an individual if I saw that."

England (from): MP Vaughan (Yorkshire, capt), AJ Strauss (Middlesex), AN Cook (Essex), KP Pietersen (Hampshire), PD Collingwood (Durham), IR Bell (Warwickshire), MJ Prior (Sussex, wkt), LE Plunkett (Durham), RJ Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), SJ Harmison (Durham), MS Panesar (Northamptonshire).

West Indies (from): CH Gayle, D Ganga (capt), DS Smith, S Chanderpaul, RS Morton, MN Samuels, SC Joseph, DJ Bravo, D Ramdin (wkt), DJG Sammy, DB Powell, JE Taylor, CD Collymore, FH Edwards.

Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pak) & BF Bowden (NZ)

3rd Umpire: PJ Hartley.

Match referee: AG Hurst (Aus).