WILD mushrooms are being ripped out of a Southend park and sold to London restaurants by “commercial” foragers, a councillor has claimed.

Non-aligned Belfairs ward councillor Stephen Aylen was quietly strolling in the area’s woodland before his short fuse burst when he saw a “line of people” cramming a tonne of fungus into a basket.

He claimed that when he spoke to them he was told they “go to London restaurants” after they have been checked for safe consumption, he reached boiling point.

He said: “I’m not worried about people just foraging, like they do for apples and blackberries, but what I’m deeply concerned about is people from industrial and commercial businesses picking up as much as they can get.

“Belfairs Wood is already in a bad state, and a group of us are trying hard to get it back up to tip-top condition.

“With fungus getting pulled out, it loses all the benefits to the woodland  clearing up the rot, feeding bugs and birds.

“Eight years ago, we had a similar situation. But when we had a woodland’s officer provided by Essex Wildlife -which has since been removed - cases of this were halted.

“Essex Wildlife take on responsibility alongside Southend Council for the site, and I want to see some form of enforcement action.”

Mr Aylen has raised his worries to the council but says no one is “prepared to take any action”.

Speaking to BBC Essex, Meg Davidson, councillor responsible for environment, claimed there is “no specific bylaw” but did warn people foraging to be “extra vigilant”.

She said: “Foraging for food has become increasingly popular in the UK.

“The council does not have specific bylaws that apply to foraging on council land. Anyone looking to forage on private land must seek the landowner’s permission first.

“Mushrooms and toadstools are the fruiting bodies of a fungus, and the fungus grows within the soil.

“There is no evidence to support a view that harvesting mushrooms has any impact on species’ diversity.

“It is similar to picking apples from a tree remaining the fruit does not affect the tree.

“However, there is a risk foragers - no matter how experienced - may pick a poisonous mushroom or berry by mistake.”