Paddleboarders spotted a huge '10 metre' shark cruising just metres off the British coastline.

Carla Smith, 20, spotted the basking shark around 35 metres off Lendalfoot Beach, in Girvan, Scotland.

After people with binoculars spotted a fin on the horizon her boyfriend Andy Milae, 20, put up his drone to identify the swimmer, on Tuesday (30).

Carla and Andy, from Troon, took to the water on their paddleboards and accidentally crossed paths with the shark, remaining still as it drifted by calmly.

Carla, a student from Rutherglen, Scotland, said: "You could see the fin on the horizon."

"People started shouting: 'There is a shark in the water!'"

"We still thought it was maybe a dolphin and it was only once we had the drone that we knew."

The stunning footage they captured settled the nerves of tourists on the beach, when they realised it was a basking shark.

Carla said: "They don't eat people, which was a relief."

Basking sharks migrate to Scotland in summer months to feed on the abundance of plankton, before returning to southerly sub-tropics.

Basking sharks can reach up to 12m in length and weigh some six tonnes, making them the largest shark in UK seas.

It is the second largest fish in the world, behind the whale shark.

Carla said: "It swam underneath us which was so cool."