VIDEO: Swimmer loses leg in Cape Town shark attack

A swimmer has had a leg bitten off and the other severed below the near after a shark attack near Cape Town, South Africa.

The 42-year-old British expat was swimming at Fish Hoek Beach despite the area having been closed off, with a white warning flag flying, due to a sighting of a great white shark.

Amateur footage showed the man being airlifted by helicopter from the scene and a large shark in the water, the man is said to be in a critical condition.

The man is thought to have entered the water only 90 minutes after the shark had been spotted.