A 7ft-long porbeagle shark caught off the coast of Devon is being served tonight to diners in Oxfordshire.

The 300lb shark arrived in Oxford yesterday and will feed at least 250 diners when it goes on sale at Fishers Restaurant, in St Clement's tonight.

Fishers' owner Martin Agius said it was only the second time the restaurant would be serving British shark in its 12-year history.

He said: "I have never seen one that big before. The size of it is rare for those waters."

The shark is so big it will also be served at The Plough Hotel, in Clanfield, which is also owned by Mr Agius.

Mr Agius said recipes would include shark steak marinated in soy sauce, ginger, lemon and lime and baked shark steaks in a salsa verde sauce.

"It has got a fishy flavour, but it is more like a meat," he said. The haul came on the same day Headington's famous shark - stuck in a roof in New High Street, Headington - celebrated its 21st birthday.