THE president of the Famers Union Wales has backed a call for Chinese lanterns to be banned – because they cause safety risks to farms.
The FUW has carried out an all-Wales survey of the problems created by Chinese lanterns and received reports of safety issues in farms across Wales including Powys.
President of the FUW Gareth Vaughn said: “We are backing a ban on Chinese Lanterns, they have safety risks, they are let off with no control.
“There’s a high risk of fire, they can damage farmland and there’s also livestock issues, with things like wire getting in cows’ stomachs.
“We are calling for a ban because of the risks that come with them.”
The campaign also has backing from the National Farmers Union Cymru, with David Jones, county chairman of Montgomeryshire, also calling for the ban.
“I would support a call for a ban”, he said.
“They are becoming a major problem falling on farms stock and machinery. The wire is a major problem, it can get stuck in cattle and can damage machinery. As farmers we feel restrictions are necessary.
“People send them up, and don’t think about where they might come down.”
Chinese Lanterns, which are for sale on the internet for as little as £1.99 each, and can fly for up to 20 minutes and rise over a mile into the sky, have been seen regularly in the Powys skies and both the NFU and FUW believe that incidents such as those that affected Griff Owen, in Pembrokeshire, could occur.
Mr Owen said they were a “dangerous threat to livestock because the main frame was made up of a circular piece of thickish wire, to which the paper canopy was attached, and the candle wick was held by a criss-cross of thinner wire. Had they landed some 20 to 30 yards further away they would have been in silage fields.
“They could have then been picked up by the forage harvester and come the winter months we would have found wire inside our cows' stomachs. This type of lantern is the worst,” he said.