Up close and personal: Surfers at Porthcurno Beach in Cornwall shared the waves with a 14ft basking shark

It looks like a scene from legendary thriller Jaws but these images of a giant shark looming menacingly towards surfers were in fact taken in Britain.

The amazing pictures were taken today at Porthcurno beach, Cornwall, where the basking shark was cruising just yards off shore.

The lone 14ft giant was gracefully feeding in the shallow waters off the scenic area - and quickly became curious about the swimmers and surfers sharing the water.   

But despite coming within touching distance of its huge presence they were in no danger - the massive sharks are plankton feeders - unlike the man-eating Great White from Jaws.

Beach-goer Rachel Hosken, who took the pictures, said several basking sharks had been seen in the area.

'It's one of the few I've seen around this year and it was great to see,' she said.

'There are usually more of them by now but for some reason there are fewer around than normal at this time of year.

Gentle giant: The shark looks dangerous, but is in fact harmless and feeds on plankton

The curious surfers circle the shark, which they spotted just yards from the shore

'I think more have been spotted in deeper waters - but the particular one in the pictures seems to have taken a liking to this spot - I've seen it a few times.'

Known as the gentle giant of the sea, the basking shark - Latin name cetorhinus maximus - is the second largest fish in the sea, only exceeded by the whale shark.

They can grow to over 36ft (11m) and weigh up to seven tons (7,000kg) - about the same size and weight as a double-decker bus - and feed on a diet of plankton and small fishes.

Basking sharks normally begin to appear in May and June.

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