A four-year-old boy thought he had discovered a “monster” when he spotted this frightening fish skull on the beach.

Fabian Ashton found the sharp-toothed remains of the sea creature while walking along the shore in Whitstable with his grandad Dave Bartlett on Friday.

Mr Bartlett said: “Fabian loves to wander along the beaches of Seasalter and Whitstable and is always looking for fancy shells and anything else that washes up.

“He was very excited to find a ‘little monster’ on the beach and called me over to see it.

“I picked it up with a stick and placed it on a nearby wall so all the local walkers could look at it with astonishment too.”

Dozens of teeth could be seen as the skull, which is about 30cm wide at the jaw, was left with its mouth open.

After leaving it on the sea wall for others to look at, Mr Bartlett posted a picture of it on social media in a bid to find out what it was.

It is thought to be a type of anglerfish - with some suggesting it is a monkfish, which counts “sea-devil” among its nicknames.

“I was amazed that such a creature would be discovered on a local beach,” Mr Bartlett added.

“With Fabian’s imagination, all he wanted to do this past weekend was make up stories of ‘the creature from the deep’.

“He actually wanted to keep it and take it home, but I declined!”

Monkfish can grow up to 6ft long but are usually half this size, according to the British Sea Fishing website.

It is a deep-water fish which stays at depths of about 50 metres and usually substantially deeper than this.

As well as the English Channel, they are found in the north east Atlantic and parts of the Irish Sea and the North Sea.

They feed primarily on other fish.