STROLLING in the Hampshire countryside and picking your own mushrooms for supper may seem like the perfect day out.

However, with more than 50 poisonous varieties lurking in the woods, foraging for fungi could prove to be nothing less than a death sentence.

The aptly named Death Cap mushrooms can cause stomach pains and diarrhoea, followed by liver failure 24 hours later.

An equally deadly variety, Destroying Angel, was used to despatch one of the victims in an episode of the TV drama series Midsomer Murders.

WHAT NOT TO EAT CLICK HERE

The real-life dangers were laid bare this week when an Isle of Wight resident died and another was left seriously ill after eating fungi that had been gathered on a day out.

A woman in her 20s is thought to have collected Death Cap mushrooms during a trip to Ventnor Botanic Garden last Sunday.

She and a woman in her 40s, understood to be a relative, ate the mushrooms the following day. Less than 24 hours later the older woman was dead and the other was being rushed to hospital.

Experts say even the most experienced mushroom hunters can confuse harmless species with those that can kill.

The number of deaths is said to have risen sharply in recent years, partly because of the growing interest in nature and natural foods.

Earlier this month the Association of British Fungus Groups warned that picking wild mushrooms could amount to “courting suicide”.

One of the biggest collections of fungi in the UK can be found in the New Forest.

Wendy Otter, 52, of Ringwood, works for Hidden Britain, the organisation that stages fungi forays, woodland walks and Jane Austen tours.

The Daily Echo joined Ms Otter on a mushroom walk at Linford Bottom, one of the most popular parts of the Forest.

During our stroll through the apparently harmless scenery, she identified no fewer than seven common fungi guaranteed to harm anyone unwise enough to eat them.

“The thing to remember about mushrooms is ICE – identification, conservation and education,” she said.

“People need to go out on organised forays and learn how to stay safe. They can’t just pick anything because it could be deadly.

“I’ve been picking mushrooms for more than 40 years and even I find things I can’t identify immediately. One of the problems is that different things come up in different years, depending on the weather.

“My advice is always avoid red. Very few red ones are edible – and those you can eat aren’t worth it.”

Another New Forest expert is Brigitte Tee-Hillman, who has gathered edible fungi in the area for 35 years.

In 1992 she launched Mrs Tee’s Wild Mushrooms and soon found herself selling her delicacies to top hotels and restaurants across the country, including Claridges, the Ritz and the Dorchester.

She reckons that every single variety of European mushroom can be found in the Forest and warns that about ten per cent are poisonous.

Most of the fungi in the area are on land owned by the Forestry Commission, which manages most of the woodland.

A commission spokesman said: “There are more poisonous plants than fungi – and more people are poisoned by edible fungi that’s gone off than by truly poisonous species.

“However, there are indeed a small number of deadly fungi and you must never eat anything unless you know exactly what it is.”