A tiny 6-foot sandtooth tiger shark washes up on a British beach after being rescued by ‘Mother Courage’.

A baby 6-foot sand tiger shark washed up on a popular British beach – hours after it was rescued by a ‘brave’ mother, it has been claimed.

The shark, which was found on Libby’s beach in the New Forest in Hampshire, is believed to be the first of its kind ever found in UK waters.

Alisha Openshaw, a mother of two, said she thought she had saved the great shark when she came across it in the shallow waters of her local beach and pulled it into deeper waters on Friday.

Although the 38-year-old watched as he swam away, the shark has now been found dead on shore.

It has been identified as a sandy saber-toothed tiger shark, a species classified as vulnerable and rarely spotted.

The deepwater shark is known to be non-aggressive towards humans, but it usually prefers the warmer waters of the cooler coast of the UK.

The strictly protected species can reach 12 feet in length and weigh up to 289 kilograms.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, there may be less than 250 adult sand tiger sharks left.

Efforts are now underway to recover the shark from Libby Beach in the New Forest in Hampshire for further examinations and an autopsy.

On Friday afternoon, Mrs. Openshaw was at the beach with her children when she spotted the creature on the beach which she thought had been there for two hours, but though there was a group of people watching it, no one helped it.

So the hairdresser jumped on herself, pulled her into the deeper water and saw her swim away.

‘I was off to the beach for a walk,’ said Mrs. Openshaw, of Debden-Porleo, Hants, ‘and Mum was already there, so I took the children for a nice walk.

There were two people there, and they saw the shark splashing around. He was splashing water around the starters, and I worried no one was going to help him.

At first I wasn’t sure what it could be, but once I got there I definitely saw that it was a shark. He must have been there for a good two hours, and I can’t believe no one tried to help him.

“I don’t want any animal to suffer, I can’t even kill a fly myself, I know I just wanted to save it.”

Then the mother pulled the animal by the tail into deeper water to make sure it was safe and could swim.

After that, the shark swam away in the direction of the Isle of Wight.

“It was so big,” said the mother, “I think about it later, and only then do you think, ‘I actually saved a shark.'”

“We must have been in the water for about an hour.”

But despite her best efforts, the shark washes ashore the next day.

She posted on Facebook: “Just a typical Friday afternoon at the beach!” We thought the shark had survived, but I think it may have been found this morning.

Locals have taken to social media to broadcast their theories.

‘I wonder why he was off the track?’ said Fix Hales. It may come with warmer currents. Poor thing.’

Graham Maggs commented, “It seems strange because we don’t seem to get the bigger Solent sharks, smooth hounds and maybe top, but the sharks, threshers and mako seem to stay out of the back of the island”.

Others congratulated the mother for her efforts, saying, “So sad, thanks for trying to save her” while one person joked, “I don’t think it will be possible to swim in Libby anymore.”