The EU has failed to halt "barbaric" fishing practices, according to a government minister.

Fisheries minister Ben Bradshaw said EU member states should agree to ban the practice of cutting the fins from live sharks.

He joined Nature Conservation on Thursday to express his disappointment that the UK had no been able to persuade enough EU member states to agree to stronger controls on the finning of sharks.

"I cannot imagine a more barbaric practice than cutting fins from a shark and then abandoning it to die," he said.

The controls that Britain had wanted, which would mainly affect Spain and Portugal, would have only permitted finning of dead sharks to aid controls and to promote sustainability.

"The UK has been pressing with some like-minded member states for safeguards to ensure this practice is brought to an end," said Bradshaw.

"Recent community legislation to restrict the practice of finning is a step in the right direction but goes nowhere near as far as the UK would have wanted."