A super trawler 14 times the size of UK fishing boats is plundering thousands of tonnes of fish from British waters before Brexit, when the Government will be able to kick the vessel out.

The 6,200 tonne Lithuanian-registered Margiris vessel was boarded by Government officials on Wednesday and found to be operating legally under European laws.

However, environmentalists fear it could be endangering short beaked common dolphins and bluefin tuna.

The ship - described as a vast floating fishing factory which can net and process 250 tonnes of fish each day - has been the target of a series of campaigns culminating in it being banned from Australian waters in 2013.

On Friday night it was 14 miles off the Sussex coastline having spent one week fishing in British waters.