Phone allegedly works after week in fish

WORTHING, England, March 2 (UPI) -- Here's a whale of a fish tale -- an Englishman says he lost his cell phone on a beach and a fisherman found it inside a fish he caught -- and it still worked.

Andrew Cheatle, 45, an online retailer, told The Sun, a British tabloid, he thought his Nokia phone was long gone. But a week later, Glen Kerley called Cheatle's girlfriend's phone to say he'd found the missing phone inside a 25-pound cod.

When he got the phone back, Cheatle said he dried it out and discovered it still worked, though he eventually had to put in a new circuit board, The Sun reported exclusively Friday.

"But now it's fine. I know it sounds a fishy tale but it is 100 percent true," he said.

Cheatle said at first he thought Kerley "was winding me up" -- pulling his leg -- "but he assured me he had caught a cod that morning and was gutting it for his fish stall and that my Nokia was inside it -- a bit worse for wear.

"I didn't believe him but went to meet him and found it was my phone -- a bit smelly and battered -- but incredibly it still worked after I let it dry out," Cheatle said.

Kerley, who lives in Worthing, said had tried to use the phone but it didn't work. So he took out the SIM card and put it in his handset to trace the owner.

"It was a bit smelly but I was glad to return it," he said.