Doorman says it's safe to go back into waters

LONDON (Reuters) - It's safe to go back into the waters off Britain -- reports of a man-eating shark that have made front page headlines were just a great white lie.

Newspapers reported on Thursday that stories they had eagerly followed in recent weeks about sightings of a killer Great White shark lurking in the waters off Cornwall had in fact been made up.

Doorman Kevin Keeble sparked the media feeding frenzy when he sent pictures to his local paper of a shark he photographed during a fishing trip to South Africa, jokingly claiming the photo was taken near the surfing resort of Newquay.

"I didn't expect anyone would be daft enough to take it seriously," newspapers quoted him as saying. "I can't believe the story went so big."