Four men and a forklift were needed to carry a gigantic shark into a market hall where it was auctioned off for 50p (USD1.03) a kilogram.

The 510kg, five metre-long shark was caught by fisherman Roger Nowell who, with his crewmate Joe Crowe, was looking for squid, TimesOnline reported.

"We'd only been out for a few minutes and we brought the net up to have a look," the fisherman says. "There was no squid but this massive shark - it was the biggest one I'd ever seen. It was fairly alarming.

"It was still alive but had almost drowned in the nets and as soon as it landed on deck it thrashed around like crazy. It caused around GBP500 worth of damage to the hydraulics, it was that heavy."

Darren Payne, the auctioneer, initially thought the catch might be worthless. "It's too big for most people to take on. There were about 20 people here at the auction but most of them were here to have a look.

"Bidding started at 50p (USD1.03) and that's where it ended. We've checked and as far as we can see, it's the biggest one ever caught in the world."

Click here to see a photo of the shark.