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Northern MP calls for action on Chinese Sky Lanterns

Spain's ban on the pretty but potentially hazardous balloons prompts renewed attempts to make them safer
People launch Chinese lanterns during Kupala Night in Poznan, Poland
You don't often see this many. But it can only take one to do serious damage, pretty though they are. Lanterns released during celebrations at Poznan in Poland Photograph: Marek Zakrzewski/EPA

Should action be taken against Chinese Sky Lanterns, whose little flames drift over our skies increasingly frequently?

Cumbrian Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron says Yes, and is stepping up a campaign to bring the attractive but potentially harmful hot air balloons under tighter control.

His latest call, this week, follows news that Spain is banning lanterns altogether, because of the damage they do to crops and farm animals. Fire risk is one hazard; the eating of indigestible wire frames and other debris another.

Farron says:

I am bemused that while Spain has gone so far as to ban the lanterns completely, our Government has not yet taken even the simple step of ensuring that the products are made safely.
These lanterns are a spectacular sight to enjoy but many people don't realise the harm they can do. The UK needs to follow the Spanish example and consider prohibiting sky lanterns in order to protect wildlife and farm animals.  At the very least we must make sure they are made from biodegradable materials that won't maim our livestock.

The lanterns have previously been banned in Vietnam, where they were blamed for 20 forest fires, and in three German states after the death of a boy in a house fire which was blamed on a lantern. There are cases in the UK of individuals refusing to allow the release of lanterns from their land, such as Mick Heath of Heaton House farm who told the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire Sentinel as long ago as 2009 why he was not allowing them at civil weddings held on his premises:

Brides and grooms ask if they can let them off, but they do not understand that the wire in them takes ages to break down. If a lantern gets wrapped up in hay bales it would be like swallowing razor blades for farm animals and if it falls into grassland it will kill wildlife. These lanterns are advertised very heavily in bridal magazines. Brides and grooms can see the attraction, but not the danger

Margaret Heath, his wife, joined in:


The National Farmers' Union is also working for action, Tweeting news of Spain's decision from its base at Stoneleigh. Last April the Women's Farming Union approved the idea of a ban. Its president Helen Bower said:

Basically they are flying fireballs and once you've let them off you can't control them. We've heard stories of crops being set on fire and stacked hay and straw setting alight when these things come down because often they're still smouldering.

We've had quite a few cattle deaths and farmers are concerned that it is coming up to silage season in May. If the wire is cut up, its pieces become like little needles and when the cows eat them they can do a lot of damage.

Farren has previously pushed for the Government to enforce rules that require distributors to follow General Product Safety Regulations, but with limited success. Will it take a northern equivalent of Vietnam's fires or Germany's tragedy for action? Views either way welcome.