Home Office urged to BAN Chinese lanterns to stop moorland fires
GETTY The Home Office is being urged to BAN flying lanterns
Many local authorities now ban their use on council-controlled land, but there's concern that people can still send them skyward from parties on private property. Nigel Evans, MP for the Ribble Valley, whose constituency is close to the Winter Hill moorland blaze, has tabled a Commons question about banning the lanterns. He said: "At this time there are a lot of summer festivals on and people use these lanterns with candles that then go up. "Clearly these are a fire hazard themselves and would the Minister consider banning those activities."
Speaking from his Westminster office, the MP added: "I hope the Home Office listen to my recommendation of banning or seriously restricting the sale of fire lanterns this summer. "Whilst I appreciate the symbolic nature and aesthetic beauty of lanterns, in this extreme heat they act like tinder boxes, putting livestock, firefighters and the public at risk." An estimated quarter of a million Chinese lanterns are sold across Britain each year and they have become popular at wedding receptions, parties and barbecues. Earlier this year Maidstone council in Kent became the latest to signal it's about to outlaw the lanterns which float into the sky with an naked flame burning inside a metal frame.
GETTY Charities and groups are trying to ban lanterns from being let off at parties or private property
They said they were set to ban the lanterns on council-owned land in Maidstone after protests from farmers' groups and animal charities who claim they endanger livestock and wildlife. The lamps are made of paper and consist of a candle or a fuel cell filled with paraffin wax suspended inside a frame of wire or bamboo. When lit, they float gently upwards and drift away for several miles, reaching heights of up to 1,000m - landing when the fuel has run out. They have become particularly popular as a symbolic way of commemorating departed loved ones in recent years, but are also widely used at summertime music festivals.
The RSPCA, the Marine Conservation Society, Women’s Food and Farming Union, Soil Association and National Farmers’ Union have joined forces to demand a total ban. In June last year organisers of Shine Up Fest, a large-scale lantern launch at the Kent Showground in Detling, bowed to public pressure and cancelled the event as criticism intensified. More than 2,000 people signed a petition opposing the mass release. This was despite organisers’ previous argument that their lanterns were of a new generation, using biodegradable materials, and that in any case, they would be able to predict where they would land, a quarter of a mile away, and have a team of litter-pickers ready to collect them.