Scubaism

With blood dripping from its fearsome teeth, the “Great White Shark” was quickly dubbed Britain’s very own “Jaws.” But Mr Keeble has now admitted the photo was taken in South Africa on a fishing trip - much to the annoyance of locals who earn their living from the tourist trade.

“I took the picture while I was on a fishing trip in Cape Town and just sent it in as a joke,” Mr Keeble told the Newquay Voice newspaper. “I didn’t expect anyone to take be daft enough to take it seriously.

“I can’t believe the story went so big in the first place. I didn’t even get any money out of it. If I’d have made a few quid then maybe I could have gone on another fishing trip to South Africa.”

The picture was carried on the front of the Voice’s rival, the Newquay Guardian, last Wednesday under the headline “Great White spotted in resort waters”. On the same day, a copy of the Newquay Guardian’s front page appeared in the Sun.

Before then, the Sun had run a series of stories claiming that a great white - or even two, a male and female - had been seen close to the popular resort of St Ives.

The Sun declined to comment today, but sources told the Guardian the shark editions had sold “like hot cakes”. The Newquay Guardian also enjoyed an increase in circulation, and Matt Dixon, the paper’s head of content, said copies had “flown off the shelves”.

He added that, as far as he was concerned, the story had not yet been proven to be a hoax, and said the paper had so far been unable to get back in touch with Mr Keeble.