British beachgoers issued warning for MILES of coastline after potentially fatal poisonous plant found - 'Do not touch!'

The council's alert echoes a warning made by Millom Coastguard Rescue Team in December, after the poisonous plant was sighted between Drigg and Parton – a stretch of about 14 miles.

The coastguard wrote at the time: "Please be aware that we have received reports of a highly poisonous plant being washed up on local beaches."

"So far there have been confirmed sightings between Drigg and Parton."

The plant is considered one of the most poisonous species found anywhere in Britain and poses a lethal threat to both people and animals.

The coastguard warned: "Even a small portion can prove fatal to humans by attacking the nervous system."

They continued: "It is also fatal to animals. The plant has a highly poisonous root that looks, and smells, like Parsnip."

Ingesting the toxin can result in death within just a couple of hours.

The poison works by causing severe muscle contractions throughout the body, ultimately leading to asphyxiation.

Westmorland and Furness Council echoed the coastguard's guidance in a Facebook post this week, noting the toxic plant bears a strong resemblance to parsnip and urging residents to remain alert to the dangers of wild poisonous plants growing across the UK.

Recent stormy conditions are believed to be responsible for uprooting the plants from their usual habitat along the shoreline.

The council suggested "recent stormy weather" could have caused the plant so become uprooted and washed out to sea.

Westmorland and Furness Council added that changing tides and weather patterns could see the dangerous vegetation appear on additional beaches and shores throughout the region.

The council advised members of the public to avoid any contact with the plant should they encounter it and to ensure pets are kept well away.

The upper-portion of the plant features bright green leaves with triangular, pinnate divisions and produces small white flowers arranged in umbrella-like clusters when in bloom.

Its hollow, grooved stem releases a yellow staining liquid when cut, and the foliage is frequently confused with members of the parsley family.

Rather sinisterly, the plant is the origin of the sardonic grin – seen in Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Joker from Tim Burton’s 1989 imagining of Batman – due to its poison constricting the muscles and causing a rictus-like death grin.

When the Phoenicians controlled Sardinia, the pre-Greek empire would ritually kill the elderly or criminals using the plant’s poison.

Millom Coastguard continued: "We advise people, especially with children and animals, to stay vigilant, avoid this plant and take extra care when visiting the beach."