A Great White shark is believed to have been spotted by a holidaymaker off the Cornish coast. Richard Fletcher, from South Yorkshire, filmed an 8 foot shark breaching in the water near a pod of dolphins about 200 yards (182m) from Porthmeor Beach, St Ives.

A spokesman for Falmouth Coastguard said there had never been a confirmed sighting of a Great White shark off Cornwall. ‘We get Basking sharks and the odd sighting of a Porbeagle shark which looks similar fin wise to a Great White but they are a lot smaller and completely different.

British waters contain 33 different species of shark, but a conclusive spotting of a Great White has never been made.