Holidaymakers stunned as shark washes up on British beach

British holidaymakers got quite a surprise when a 4ft shark washed up on a beach in Somerset.

The Starry Smoothhound was swept onto the sand at Weston-super-Mare by the incoming tide on Sunday afternoon.

Workers on the resort's Grand Pier theme park used a rope to haul the dead creature onto the attraction's North Deck.

Starry Smoothhound sharks, which can grow up to 5ft, are common in the Mediterranean and known to inhabit the waters around the British Isles.

But there's nothing to be scared of: they don't attack humans and feed on crabs, lobsters, shrimp and eels.

Arcade worker Neil Duckett was first to spot the washed-up shark, believed to be a female around 10 years old, and went down to the beach for a closer look.

He told The Sun: 'It was obvious it was dead so I wasn't too scared about approaching it.

'It was 4ft long and I thought we should take a closer look at it so I attached some rope around it.'

Grand Pier owner Kerry Michael said: 'I have lived in Weston all my life and I have never seen or heard of anything like this.'

Officials at the local SeaQuarium attraction said such sharks rarely washed up on British shores.

Displays manager Hayley Upham said: 'This is the first time in my six years here in Weston I've seen this.

'People shouldn't be alarmed, they don't go for humans, they wouldn't move fast enough and they're not of that nature.

'You wouldn't ever see them swimming around your feet if you went for a dip.'

Phew, it's just the weather putting us off going for a swim, then...

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