I will be very grateful if anyone can tell me how to get rid of this prety but threatening looking fungus growing on our front lawn

You could rake it out or in a few weeks time treat the lawn with a combined feed ,weed and moss killer(should kill most fungus as well) but you really need to sort the drainage for a permanent solution.

In any case the fruiting bodies of fungi don't usually last very long so the problem will probably resolve itself before long.
I've never seen these before - unusual aren't they?

Is it a fungus, or one of the ground lichens--like reindeer moss?

Thank you all. I'm not so sure i want to get rid of them now. Tug I think you are right about it being a lichen rather than a fungus. I have had a look at various sites on the web and if I can get an ID I will let you know what it is. If it is a lichen it is supposed to indicate a good pure air supply.

They don't last long in lawns but you will probably get it back every year. I think its rather beautiful.

me to cammomile .

Interesting ... I have had a number of lilac/blue coloured mushrooms, but not fungus, in various gardens this year, that I have not seen before. Perhaps lilac/blue is 'in' this year?!! :-)))

Suggest lawn sand applied over the area will do the trick. It feeds the grass but also has a fungicide that will kill moss, lichen and mushrooms.

Thanks everyone. I am almost convinced it probably is a lichen. Having read a bit about them after Tugs comment I don't think I want to lose it now. It is not as if we want bowling green lawns. As you can see from the photo there is also a lot of moss there. Lichens are widely used throughout the world as a food source and also a means of getting colours so I won't be destroying this until I am certain it is a threat to something else. It is certainly one up on a wildflower meadow lol.

Good for you Scotsgran! I have no problem with moss etc in lawns - it's green and soft, and have found that a sharp blade with a roller can create the lovely effect of sweeping perfect lawns, even if there is weed and moss!!

Thanks Avkq. I was brought up in a house with a huge garden and a large part of it was left to grow as a wild flower meadow. My father ploughed the vegetable plot each year and he grew flowers for my mother so she could always have cut flowers. She grew all our fruit and preserved it and made jams with it and also with whatever was in season in the countryside. Her own passion was roses and she always had the latest ones bred in the nursery a few miles away. I came across a pic of my brother and I sitting together with the family dog. Joey. Happy days indeed.