Canal users warned after poisonous plant spotted

Visitors to a canal towpath have been warned to avoid a poisonous plant after it was spotted along the route.

Parish councillor Richard Lucas said hemlock water dropwort had been seen along the Basingstoke Canal in Ash Vale, Surrey.

The native plant is "extremely poisonous" and should only be touched wearing gloves, according to the Royal Horticultural Society.

Lucas said the plant was "quite widespread" in the area and "extremely dangerous".

He told BBC Radio Surrey the species "grows naturally in ditches and on the edge of stagnant waterways" so was present along the canal, in ditches and along the edge of the Blackwater River.

Ash Parish Council said hemlock water dropwort appears similar to harmless members of the carrot and parsley family and has white flower heads, which disappear by the end of summer.

"Residents are advised not to touch or pick any plant they suspect may be hemlock water-dropwort, and to keep children and pets away," the council said.

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