MP calls for ban on Chinese lanterns

Chinese lanterns are "immensely dangerous" and should be banned before they cause a fatal fire, a senior Liberal Democrat MP has said.

Tim Farron, who has been campaigning for some time against their use, spoke out after a lantern started a huge blaze at a recycling centre.

The fire in Smethwick, near Birmingham, was tackled by 200 firefighters and caused £6m of damage.

Fire chiefs have urged people not to use the lanterns and called for an urgent review. And in this month’s issue, Camping magazine has called for a ban because of the risks to campers at festivals and on campsites.

Glastonbury festival organizer Michael Eavis banned lanterns at the event for the first time this year.

Mr Farron said farmers in his rural Cumbrian constituency have been warning about the dangers of Chinese lanterns for several years.

"It is laudable for governments to take their time and be cautious about banning things but the evidence now very strongly points towards that ban," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"This could be repeated again and it could have a loss of life attached to it which would be an absolutely appalling tragedy.
“They are spectacular things so I am loath to ban them or to seek to ban them. But they are immensely dangerous.

"The Spanish, who are a pretty fun-loving group, have banned them in recent years as well because of the impact on livestock, on crops and indeed property and potentially the threat to life."

The Chief Fire Officers' Association has called for an urgent review.

It wants fire services nationally to work with councils, police and trading standards officers to discourage the use of lanterns. As well as posing a risk to property and livestock, lanterns have also caused many false alarms when they have been mistaken for shipping distress flares off the coast.

Campers on Twitter have backed calls for a ban on the lanterns.

But in May, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs rejected calls for a ban, saying the risk from them was "low."

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