Angler Andy Dixon had a shock when he fished a Surrey lake and hooked a giant North American snapper turtle.

Said Andy: "The fight was extremely slow and heavy and after a few minutes a head the size of my fist appeared.

"I slowly dragged the monster to my landing net. It tried to crawl back but I grabbed the mesh and heaved it on to the bank.

"I opened the net and reached inside to grab the hook length when a head shot out on about eight inches of neck and nearly took my finger off."

A similar thing took place in a pit at Stanton Harcourt a few years ago when a local angler tried to remove his hook from a large terrapin.

So, be warned, treat turtles and terrapins with the greatest respect.