Meet the fin-tastic 'shark' spotted in Hartlepool's Mill House Leisure Centre

Scores of people claimed they had spotted a shark in a series of Facebook posts as the town rallied around a Hartlepool youngster with a great sense of humour.

Joker Alfie Tipp, eight, decided to wear his toy fin it while swimming at Mill House Leisure Centre recently in the hope other young children might think that there was a real shark in the pool.

"He was swimming underneath the water and was looking for little babies who might think it’s a real shark,” said Kel Tipp, who is Alfie’s mum.

"When he got to the baby or the younger child, he was covered up so you could just see the fin.

"He was coming back to me, saying ‘mum, were they scared?’ I said ‘Yeah, they were.’”

After seeing how happy Alfie was, Kel, 45, thought she would reach out to people on Facebook and ask them to post that they’ve seen a shark in the pool at Mill House on Saturday.

She was expecting a couple of people to respond to the request and was left shocked when it went viral - with hundreds of reactions and dozens of comments.

Kel said: "I couldn’t believe the reaction on Facebook. It was really nice of the people of the town to come together like that.

"I was expecting one or two people to do it and then there was just so many. My phone was pinging all night and the next morning.”

Alfie, who goes to Fens Primary School, was also surprised with the reaction although he started to suspect his mum might be involved.

"He couldn’t believe it, but after I showed him quite a few he said ‘mum, I know it’s just your friends,’” laughed Kel.

Now town residents have been warned the shark may return to the Hartlepool coast in the summer as Alfie might have a dip in the sea with the fin on.

Kel added: "He’s a proper joker. He loves playing tricks on people. He’s got a really good sense of humour, but, overall, he’s really kind and caring.”

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