AN ANGLER from Sheerness has smashed the British stingray shore record and won the Whitstable Open in the process.

Trevor Back's 59lb 11oz eight drams specimen had a wing span of more than four foot, and saw off the 145-strong competition field.

The last time the British record was broken was in 1991 when K Wyatt hauled in a 54lb 9oz 6drm creature off Fairbourne Beach in Gwynedd.

Back's fish is more than five pounds heavier and is awaiting confirmation to see if it has broken the European record.

He said: "I was pretty dumbfounded at the time. When it tugged my line I knew immediately that it was a big fish, although I was amazed when I got it to shore because I'd never caught a stingray before.

"I have landed big fish from boats before, but my previous largest from the shore was 13lb, so this one dwarfed it."

He continued: "Winning the £600 prize money and breaking the record made me happy, but the best thing for me was releasing the fish back into the water. I don't like to see fish killed and this one was a great specimen, a female who is still of spawning age and will produce many more young."

* The largest stingray ever caught in Britain was a 72lb 2oz monster caught from a boat in the River Blackwater in Essex in 1996 by P Burgess.