Australia: Holidaymaker Paul Marshallsea Pulls Deadly Shark away from Swimming Children [VIDEO]

A British holidaymaker grappled with a shark in shallow waters off a busy beach as children frolicked in the sea.

Paul Marshallsea wrestled with the 6ft fish when it swam towards beachgoers on Bulcock Beach on Australia's Queensland coast.

The 62-year-old went into action when an alarm rang that a shark was in the water. He grabbed the dusky whaler shark, a species known to attack humans, by its tail and yanked it away from swimmers.

He ignored calls from lifeguards on the beach to steer clear of the shark. Two other men helped him.

The incident was captured on camera, including the moment when the dusky whaler shark took a bite at Marshallsea, missing by only a hair's breadth.

Marshallsea, a grandfather, told WalesOnline: "We got hold of his tail and pulled with all our might to get the shark back into deep enough water so that the poor thing could survive.

"While I was pulling the shark by the tail back into deeper water her 2ft-long babies were swimming through my legs. They must have got lost and marooned by the shallow sandbanks and got beached.

"But the trouble was when we got the shark to just over knee deep it then turned on us and just missed me with a bite which was a fraction away from my leg.

"A shark that one minute ago was so docile now just nearly took my leg off in a split second - it was that quick."

Lifeguards eventually joined the men in coaxing the shark and its young back out to sea.

A lifeguard at the scene said the creatures are driven to beaches by extreme hunger or to die.

Tourist Tash Kimlin was on the beach with her family when the drama took place. She called out to her children when the alarm was raised.

"It was pretty scary. I was just calling out to them and they couldn't really understand what I was saying," she said.