British man dies after being bitten by a sea snake

Creature struck after it was pulled up in a fishing net

Found in tropical waters, sea snakes grow to between 120cm and 150cm in length (Alamy)

A British man died after he was bitten by a sea snake while working on a fishing trawler off the coast of Australia.

The creature struck as the 23-year-old, who has not been named, pulled up a net near the island of Groote Eylandt.

A helicopter crew was called as the trawler rushed to the town of Borroloola, but the victim was pronounced dead on arrival Northern Territory Police said.

"The Groote Island health clinic and police responded to the trawler, but unfortunately the male passed away," Craig Garraway, from St John Ambulance, told Australia's ABC News.

Sea snakes "produce some of the most dangerous venoms know in the animal kingdom," according to the Marine Education Society of Australia.

Often found in tropical waters through south-east Asia and northern Australia, they are usually between 120cm and 150cm long they can occasionally grow to around three metres in length.

All known species of the reptile are venomous, but they rarely attack humans.

Describing the man's death as a "tragically unlucky accident", associate professor Bryan Fry, from University of Queensland told the BBC: "By and large they are very gentle animals, and people do go scuba diving with them all the time."

He added: "But in a fishing trawler situation, where they've been potentially dragged through the water in a net, they will come up injured and perhaps looking to lash out."

Officials from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office confirmed that the department was supporting the family of a British man who had died in Australia's Northern Territory.

He second British man to die while working on a fishing trawler in the area in the last five years.

20-year-old Ryan Donoghue died while working on a prawn trailer in November 2013.

He was electrocuted when a wave washed on deck while as he used a power tool.

A coroner found that his death was a "tragic, unnecessary and avoidable" accident at an inquest into his death in 2016.

Additional reporting by Press Association