As man-hunting tips go, slapping your intended with a mackerel does not normally make the top ten.

That didn't worry more than 30 unattached women at Brighton Fishing Museum this weekend, though.

Dressed in traditional clothing, they performed a special mackerel slapping dance to try to land a mate.

The dance culminated with each woman slapping a man they would like to marry with their fish in a bid to break the ice.

The performance was part of a celebration to mark the landing of the year's first catch of mackerel.

The dance was invented in Whitstable several years ago and is rapidly becoming a tradition among fishing communities.

Performer Carol Johnson said: "We hold a celebration every year when the first mackerel catch is brought in, but we felt we wanted to do something a bit different this time round.

"It went really well but the onus will be on us now to do something even more unusual next year."