Snake bite warning issued to walkers

Walkers have been warned to leave snakes in the countryside alone after dozens of incidents of bites caused by people picking up venomous adders. People sought advice over adder bites 196 times between 2009 and 2011, figures from the Health Protection Agency's National Poisons Information Service showed.

In around half the cases, a person had picked up an adder, the only venomous snake living wild in England, Scotland and Wales.

When adder bites deliver venom, it can cause localised pain, tenderness, swelling and bruising which can spread.