A FISHMONGER was astonished to find a marine monster that was literally off the scale in his catch of the day.

But John Moore’s tale of a gigantic fish is not another line about the one that got away because here is the photographic proof.

This red snapper was sent to Dilworths, in Leicester Street, with the usual delivery from the wholesalers.

It weighed in at 12 kilos, which is 12 times bigger than the Seychelles species John and his colleague Graham Silcock would expect.

John said: “You will never see anything like this again.

“It’s the biggest fish landed in Northwich.

“They’re flown in from the Seychelles and this one’s more than 3ft long, it’s a beautiful fish.

“They can grow to any size but the biggest I’ve seen before was five or six kilos.”

John has worked at Dilworths for more than 40 years.

The shop is owned by Tom Levings, who also owns a sister shop in Wilmslow and a wholesale business at New Smithfield Market, in Manchester, called Big Fish Little Fish, which gives the shops priority on daily fresh fish.

John said he expected the fish to sell for a total of about £160 once it was filleted.