The man behind the world famous 50ft Crabzilla spotted lurking beneath the waters in Whitstable has described the furore caused by the colossal crustacean as “a bit of fun”.

Quinton Winter, of Station Road, told KentOnline he was stunned by the amount of coverage the sea monster has clawed after it appeared at his exhibition at the Horsebridge Centre.

Aerial images of the shadowy figure emerged on the artist’s bizarre blog Weird Whitstable – which documents supernatural sightings across the town.

This week it was splashed on the Daily Star front page with the story also featuring in worldwide news outlets including Australia, Malaysia and France.

But despite its popularity with the global media, the tale left online readers feeling rather crabby with criticisms it was “juvenile”.

Quinton said: “When I saw the picture I thought I could use it in my exhibition.

“I thought it may have been a sand formation but it looked like a crab to me.

“I’m not trying to lie about anything, it’s just a bit of fun.”

KM Group graphic artist Ashley Austen took a sceptical view of the paranormal find.

He said: “The image of the giant crab can be quite easily recreated in Photoshop. All the artist had to do is find a suitable image of a crab, overlay it on to the satellite picture of the harbour and apply a few filters.”

But Mr Winter said he didn’t think the image would be taken too seriously.

He said: “Sometimes you put stuff out there and no one takes any notice and then sometimes unexpectedly it goes everywhere. It has been a strange reaction.

“I don’t think anyone seriously believes there actually is a 50ft crab in Whitstable. What would it feast on? Fat, juicy Londoners?” - Quinton Winter

“I don’t think anyone seriously believes there actually is a 50ft crab in Whitstable. What would it feast on? Fat, juicy Londoners?”

According to Weird Whitstable, Crabzilla surfaced in July last year at a popular crabbing spot after it was spotted by two young boys.

The boys, which included Mr Winter’s son, were blissfully unaware as the crab slipped silently under the water sideways.

According to the Marine Biological Association, the largest species is the Japanese spider crab which can grow up to 3.7m across - the size of a small car.

Other strange sightings reported by Weird Whitstable include a haunted fence in Tankerton.