A WEST Somerset walker had a surprise after spotting this three-foot long conger eel while strolling along the beach at St Audries.

Brave Liz Elmont quickly realised the terrified creature was caught in a fishing line with two hooks, one in its fin and another in its mouth.

"The conger eel was thrashing about, left behind as the tide went out," Liz said.

"I managed to use my keys to cut through the line and after a bit of a battle got the hooks out."

She then dragged the stranded eel down to the water and let it go, watching it swim away.

She said: "I hate finding any creature hurt and frightened. Disposed of the hooks, line and weight afterwards too. Not what I hoped to photograph on the beach today."

Fully grown conger eels can reach three metres or 10 feet in length, they are often found in the Mediterranean Sea but are occasionally caught by fisherman along the European and North American coasts.

Liz Elmont is a talented photographer who has two of her pictures in the new Somerset Camera Club Calendar 2018. Find out how to pick up your free copy here: somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/15693240.How_you_can_collect_your_FREE_Somerset_Camera_Club_2018_Calendar/.