Fisherman Barry Thomas landed a catch with a difference at one of Wales' most popular holiday resorts.

He set off hoping to catch fairly common fish like mackerel or bass - but ended up netting a 12ft-long thresher shark off the coast of the Gower, Swansea.

A shark this big would normally be swimming miles off land

Fishmonger Daniel Thomas

Mr Thomas, 49, took it straight to Swansea market for his son, Daniel, who runs a fish stall.

Then the keen young salesman got straight on the telephone and sold it to France, where gourmets cannot get enough of good shark meat for Parisian restaurants.

The shark, worth up to �1,000, proved too heavy for his 150k scales.

A combination of warm seas and high tides has brought schools of sharks closer to land.

"Nasty shock"

"A shark this big would normally be swimming miles off land," 20-year-old Daniel said.

"They are not usually dangerous but one this big would give a swimmer a pretty nasty shock.

"Thresher sharks get their name because they smash fish with their tails before eating them.

"They are unlikely to bite a human being but they are known to ram swimmers with their long pointy noses.

Perfect conditions

"They can cause serious damage."

Weather conditions in the Bristol Channel is currently perfect for shark fishing.

Sharks like this can come very close to beaches and have been seen swimming near the Mumbles lighthouse before now.

Thresher sharks normally swim in pairs - and Barry Thomas is now on the look-out for the other one.