A warning about the dangers of of using sky or Chinese lanterns over the festive period has been issued by the Office of Fair Trading and the Fire and Rescue Service.

They say there are a number of safety concerns about the lanterns, including risks to livestock and wildlife, fire risk and damage to crops and property, hazards to aviation and the possibility of causing false alarms for coastal rescue services.


Locally, it was recently reported that a cow on the Island had died after eating hay in which parts of a sky lantern were entangled, while in the UK, a young boy was scalded on his face by molten fuel which fell from a lantern floating overhead.

OFT Chief Trading Standards Officer John Peete says no-one wants to be a killjoy, but they are very concerned that before long there is going to be a very serious incident caused by one of these lanterns.

Safety instructions for the use of these lanterns are often very complex.

He adds it is extremely difficult to predict their flight paths and those that fall to the ground while still alight can present a significant fire hazard.


The advice from the OFT and the fire service is to seriously consider not using them at all.