Anglers have captured the incredible moment they caught six huge sharks off Portland’s coast.

Paul Burridge and Peter Targett, of Big Buoy Charters based in Weymouth and Portland, were out with three customers on a charter fishing trip on Saturday when they made the amazing catch.

During nine hours at sea, the group managed to capture six porbeagle sharks in waters south of Portland Bill, with a man on board the boat wrestling with one shark for over half an hour.

Mr Burridge said: “After a few dropped runs we managed to catch six large porbeagle sharks with the largest being an estimated over 200lbs.

"Chris Charles fought the huge beast for over 40 minutes to get it to the boat side and after a quick picture it was released without harm.”

Porbeagle sharks, from the same family as great white sharks, can be found around the UK in deep waters. Despite being described by the Shark Trust as “large, powerful sharks” with “sharp teeth and abrasive skin,” porbeagle sharks are not considered harmful to humans and rarely come to shore.

Mr Burridge said: “Sharks have been found in our waters for years but we are the first boat to specialize in fishing for them.

"They are getting more and more common in our area as the water warms up and are starting to come back after years of over fishing. You have to be careful when you catch them or risk losing an arm or leg – they can be aggressive when they have a fishing hook in them.

"They have big teeth and are very powerful, but at the end of the day they are more delicate than what they look like.

“We tag and release all our sharks, share the information with the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme and promote the welfare and conservation of the beautiful creatures.

“Our belief is that the welfare of the fish is paramount.”

Porbeagle sharks are listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (ICUN) red list.

Big Buoy Charters is owned and skippered by Mr Targett, who has been working in the waters around Weymouth and Portland for nearly 35 years. The company has been working out of Portland Marina for the past two years, and has been looking to capture sharks for sport for the past year.

Mr Burridge added: “These are aggressive looking sharks but we want to stress that they are not dangerous. Unless you go searching for them, the chances of finding them are slim, so the public have no reason to worry.”