A YORK baker has given a warning to vegetable growers after touching parsnips in his allotment left him with blisters “like a chemical burn”.

Phil Clayton, who runs the Haxby Bakehouse with his wife Tina, had been planting leeks in amongst his parsnips under the blazing sun on Monday - when the city reached temperatures of almost 30 degrees.

The gardener returned home with nothing but a cut caused by his day at the allotment.

Phil woke up after a nap with small marks on his wrists however, as the days went on, his skin began to bubble into bigger and more painful burns.

“All the little red marks became blisters,” Phil told The Press.

“It was like my wrists were on fire.

“My daughter works at the pharmacy at the hospital so I was jokingly calling her saying ‘Can you help?’ and she was asking the pharmacists and they said, ‘You need to go to the doctor’.

“I went to get some anti-histamines from the pharmacists in Haxby and she was like, ‘You need to call 111 now, I’ve never seen anything like it’.

"I went to A&E and to the hospital GP. They thought it was just an allergy to insect bites and she tore the skin off on them and said take your anti histamines.

“It wasn’t until my brother rang me and he asked, ‘Have you been near parsnips?’. He said it’s parsnip burn.”

The Royal Horticultural Society warns green-fingered folk about parsnips on its list of potentially harmful garden plants, describing it as a “severe skin irritant in bright sunlight”.

Parsnip falls under the Apiaceae family, which also encompasses Giant hogweed, or Heracleum mantegazzianum - known for causing a painful allergic reaction.

According to the London Allergy and Immunology Centre, hogweed can leave the skin so sensitive to sunlight that exposure causes blisters and scarring.

In the worst cases, scarring can last years and flare up in hot weather.

"I knew that's a dangerous plant but I didn't actually know the parsnips were a relative of that," Phil said.

"I put it on Instagram and one person has messaged back and said, 'My mum gets this every year and has never been able to work out what it was'."

The pain from the blisters and tightness of the skin on his wrists has been curbed by the GP's intervention, meaning he can get back to kneading dough.

But the final test will come when he returns to working near hot ovens at the bakery.

Describing the condition of his reaction now, he said: "At the moment I'm just in a lot of pain. It's just really uncomfortable.

"The blisters were so painful at the time that when she popped them it was a relief even though that was really painful so it stopped the burning and tightness on the wrists. It's not pleasant.

"It did feel like a chemical burn. I was trying to think, 'Have I used something different?'"

Phil added: "A lot of people say it's wild parsnips but I'm just wondering if these seeds I've got, is it more connected to the wild ones?

"At least I know what it is."

Food writer and Persian chef Sabrina Ghayour sent her well wishes to Phil on his Instagram post.

The author said: "I hope the pain dies down soon and it clears up."

According to Healthline, symptoms start with an intense burning sensation which is followed by a red rash.

Over the next couple of days, the rash may get worse alongside the potential for severe blistering; though not all cases involve blisters.

Other plants that cause a similar reaction includes carrot, celery, fennel, fig, giant hogweed, lime, mustard and wild dill.