A DALES restaurant will need a very big dishy to serve the fishy which arrived in its kitchen yesterday.

The Wensleydale Heifer, at West Witton, near Leyburn, took delivery of a 268-kilo Porbeagle shark caught off the Sunderland coast on Sunday.

Jaws dropped as the 8ft monster was displayed in the main street for villagers and restaurant guests, including a wedding party, to have their photos taken with the catch.

The shark, one of the largest caught off the North-East coast, was being cut up by a fishmonger last night in time for today's menu.

David Moss, head chef, who paid £600 for the shark, expected to get about 500 portions from it.

"We have served shark lots of times before and it is very popular," he said. "People get a taste for it on holiday and then come back and look for it on the menu here."

Problems with the restaurant electricity supply were solved in time for the shark to arrive for the freezer.

The power failed at 11pm on Wednesday night, was restored in the early hours of yesterday only to go off again just as the wedding party was sitting down to lunch.

"We had 50 people booked for lunch and we had to turn another 20 away," said Mr Moss.

"Luckily, the starters for the wedding lunch were done before the power cut and the stoves retained enough heat to cook the main course."

The electricity supply was reconnected just before the shark arrived at about 2.30pm.