Lake District mountain rescue help hikers who had taken magic mushrooms

Mountain rescuers in the Lake District were called to aid a group of men who had taken ‘magic mushrooms’.

The group of hikers had taken the hallucinogenic mushrooms while on a visit to the valley before rescuers had to be called.

Keswick Mountain Rescue said it was called to Newlands Valley on Saturday at around 12.15pm on April 8th, to aid a group of young men who had taken the fungi.

Two of the group members began feeling unwell and so had to be walked safely down the valley and received advice from a medic.

The rescue operation on Stonycroft Beck took a total of two hours and involved 11 team members. A rescue team spokesman said: “Two were feeling unwell, including the driver in the party.

“The casualties were walked down and given advice by the team medic regarding the timing of their onward travel.”

Psilocybin, also known as ‘magic mushrooms’, are a fungi which can cause hallucinations and feelings of nausea. They are Class A drugs meaning it is illegal to possess or sell them. 

It is difficult to predict the strength of ‘magic mushrooms’ because it varies depending on the freshness, season and where they grow.

Every year dozens of people all over the UK have to seek medical advice after picking and eating wild mushrooms which then make them ill.

This is because some varieties which grow wild in the United Kingdom are poisonous and can make foragers ill when consumed: some types can even be fatal.