The mystery of a shark's head which found its way from the open seas to Oxford has been solved - or has it?

The gruesome Jaws carcass was spotted in the River Thames near Osney last week by a group of young friends.

Gemma Jackson, 15, of Mill Street, Oxford, Jamila Begum, 12, Tom James,11, and eight-year-old Jafor Ali were mystified when they found the head in the river near Osney.

Now Keble College student Ben Tucker, 22, of Walton Street, shed light on the marine mystery by has revealed it was used as a boat's figurehead on a rowing team's boat during Eights Week in June.

But the mystery deepened again when it was revealed that the head fell into the water near the Head of the River pub at Folly Bridge - meaning it travelled upstream to its final resting place.

James Bresman, a member of Keble's Titanic crew, said the mascot fell off when the boat was lifted out of the water.

He said: "The crew clubbed together and bought the shark's head as a bit of a joke. We even put a beer can in its mouth.

"We taped it to the prow of the boat but after a few races the tape became soggy. When we lifted the boat out of the water, the shark's head fell into the river and we could not fish it out.

He added: "It definitely fell into the water near Folly Bridge. I do not know how it managed to get upstream."

Did it have one final swim - despite being long dead? The truth is out there...

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