A SHARK loose in a Kidderminster swimming pool prompted squeals of delight rather than shrieks of terror.

Roboshark, a six-feet long working mechanical model of one of the marine killers, was dipping a fin in the water of the Wyre Forest Glades ahead of an event where pool users will be able to get up close and personal with it.

If Monday's reaction was anything to go by, then Roboshark will prove a popular attraction when it returns on July 29.

Simon Blackadder, marketing manager at the Glades, said the radio controlled model was designed and built by Andrew Sneath for a David Attenborough television programme on sharks, infiltrating a colony to record their behaviour in the wild.

It has since proved in demand at leisure centres with pools, enabling people to swim with a "shark" but without the danger.

"If you were on your surfboard in the sea and saw it from 30 to 40 metres away, you would think it was a real shark," said Mr Blackadder. He added: "It went down quite well on its initial visit this week.

"The kids were really enthusiastic," he went on. "What we found was it was the older people who were a bit more worried."

He warned that anyone who wanted to share the Glades pool with Roboshark on July 29 during any of the three one-hour sessions, between 5pm and 8pm, including a family one, would have to pre-book, due to expected demand.

To book a place at one of the sessions, ring the Glades on 01562 515151.