One of the biggest sharks caught off Britain weighing nearly 40 stones and measuring over eight-foot long has been hooked off the Cornish coast.

The porbeagle, a relation of the Great White, was caught at an undisclosed location off Cornwall by Ross Needs and Dan Hawkins.

The female weighed a whopping 500Ilbs and was captured on a charter trip run by Mr Hawkins, who runs Reel Deal Chartered.

It was a huge fish - one of the biggest we've had. It was a two hour fight to reel it in. Hopefully, there will be bigger to come.

Mr Hawkins
The shark in the water. Credit: Apex

The fish was released after being caught.

Watch the moment it was caught:

What are porbeagles?

Porbeagles are mackerel sharks and live in the cold and temperate marine waters of the North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere.

In 2017, three porbeagle sharks weighing 238lbs, 392lbs and 500lbs were caught off the coastline of Devon and Cornwall.

Video footage shows the shark thrashing and rolling in the water as it was reeled in by the fishermen. Credit: Apex

The 'playful' shark is white on the bottom and grey on the top to allow it to camouflage while hunting smaller fish.

The numbers of porbeagles has dwindled over the last few decades after a rise in them being sought by hobby fishers.

Only a handful of non-confirmed shark attacks have ever been attributed to the porbeagle.

The International Shark Attack File attributes three bites to the species - one provoked and non-fatal and two on boats.