AN image of young fish taking refuge among the stinging tentacles of a giant jellyfish has scooped the top prize in the British Wildlife Photography Awards.

While George Stoyle, from Muston, North Yorkshire, won the overall prize of £5,000, wildlife photographer Robert Fuller, of Thixendale, in Ryedale collected the British Seasons award for four images of a common weasel.

The shot by Mr Stoyles, a director of North Yorkshire firm Seacology Limited, featured a huge lion’s mane jellyfish and its “hitchhikers”, which he took in the sea off Scotland during a project to assess the biology of major sea caves off remote UK islands.

He said: “At the end of one of the dives I was swimming back to the boat when I came face-to -face with the largest jellyfish I’ve ever encountered.

“As I approached cautiously I noticed that a number of juvenile fish had taken refuge inside the stinging tentacles.”

David Nussbaum, chief executive of World Wildlife Fund UK, said: “This year’s winning image is a striking example of the natural beauty and variety of life we have within and around our shores, as well as the skill and artistry of our wildlife photographers.

“The photo exquisitely captures the voluptuous frills and folds, and kaleidoscope colours of this giant jellyfish.

“But it’s the jelly’s piscean stowaways that make this picture, a shoal of shimmering, glistening juvenile fish finding safe harbour amongst the tangle of tentacles."