Man savaged by sharks in landlocked pub
Posted: Mon Apr 18, 2005 9:24 pm
Dec.14.2000
Man savaged by sharks in landlocked pub
A chef has been mauled in a shark attack - at a pub 60 miles from the sea.
Horrified customers looked on as the sharks mistook Paul Smith's fingers for food when he fed one of them prawns in a 3,000 gallon tank in the pub's dining room.
Russell Allen, landlord of the Fountain in Tenbury Wells, Worcester, took Mr Smith to hopsital where nurses logged the incident as a "shark attack" at a landlocked pub and gave him six stitches for deep cuts.
The 40-year-old was on a break when he decided to treat Miami, a black-tipped reef shark usually fed squid and mussels.
He said that as soon as the sharks got a whiff of the seafood they shot across the tank.
"Within a second the water was churning like the shark attack scenes in the Jaws movie - and my hand was in the middle of it," he added. "Miami did most of the damage. He was hanging off my finger and I was howling."
The pub's landlord recently installed the 15ft by 5ft tank and The Sun reports that diners loved watching the three sharks - especially at feeding time.
"It must help them work up an appetite - seafood sales have gone up 40%," he said.
The chef said: "It could have been very nasty. I've learned my lesson - I'll admire them from afar from now on."
Man savaged by sharks in landlocked pub
A chef has been mauled in a shark attack - at a pub 60 miles from the sea.
Horrified customers looked on as the sharks mistook Paul Smith's fingers for food when he fed one of them prawns in a 3,000 gallon tank in the pub's dining room.
Russell Allen, landlord of the Fountain in Tenbury Wells, Worcester, took Mr Smith to hopsital where nurses logged the incident as a "shark attack" at a landlocked pub and gave him six stitches for deep cuts.
The 40-year-old was on a break when he decided to treat Miami, a black-tipped reef shark usually fed squid and mussels.
He said that as soon as the sharks got a whiff of the seafood they shot across the tank.
"Within a second the water was churning like the shark attack scenes in the Jaws movie - and my hand was in the middle of it," he added. "Miami did most of the damage. He was hanging off my finger and I was howling."
The pub's landlord recently installed the 15ft by 5ft tank and The Sun reports that diners loved watching the three sharks - especially at feeding time.
"It must help them work up an appetite - seafood sales have gone up 40%," he said.
The chef said: "It could have been very nasty. I've learned my lesson - I'll admire them from afar from now on."