Surfer battered shark after it bit him on the leg in the FIRST attack ever in UK waters

A FEARLESS surfer has described how he hit a shark on the head after it bit him on the leg while he was in the sea at a Devon beach.

Teacher Rich Thomson, 30, fought off what he estimates was a 3ft shark - in what experts say is the first incident of its kind involving surfers in UK waters.

Rich said the shark grabbed him on the leg at Bantham in South Devon and he turned to see a "little shark" on his thigh, wriggling its head from side to side.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: ";I hit it on the head and it swam off. My hand was cut to pieces."

The chemistry teacher, who believes he was protected by his thick winter wetsuit, said he has been left with a "sizeable bruise about three inches across".

He explained: "I went home and told my wife I was late because I had been bitten by a shark.

"She said 'I've heard that one before', but it was true.

"It won't stop me going back in the water and it shouldn't stop anyone, I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Rich added pupils at Kingsbridge Community College, where he teaches, have since bought him shark ties and have nicknamed him 'Sharkbait' and 'Nemo'.

Wildlife publisher and illustrator Marc Dando said he thought the shark was probably a smooth hound.

Smooth hounds, found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from the British Isles to South Africa and in the Mediterranean, can grow up to 6.5ft but usually do not grow bigger than 5ft.

Marc said: "All sharks can be very territorial. It was probably just telling the person to go away and struck out."

Ali Hood, director of conservation at the Plymouth-based Shark Trust added the small shark was probably disorientated by the "turbid, dynamic water" of the river mouth.

She said: "British waters are home to a wide diversity of sharks with a number of coastal species such as smooth hound, tope and cat sharks often reported by beach goers and water users."