NFUS welcomes sky lantern ban in Argyll

SEVEN more Scottish local authorities – including Argyll and Bute – have now banned the release of sky lanterns and helium balloons over their land, but the National Farmers’ Union Scotland (NFUS) is calling on 17 other councils to take action.

Ahead of bonfire night last year, the NFUS wrote to all of Scotland’s councillors of those local authorities which did not have bans in place. Councils who have banned sky lanterns and balloons since the Union’s correspondence are: Argyll and Bute, Inverclyde, Fife, East Lothian, West Lothian and Dundee, with Edinburgh City Council currently putting measures in place.

They join Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Angus, Falkirk, Highland, Perth and Kinross and Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands, which already had a ban in place.

NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick said: ‘ Sky lanterns are seemingly innocent devices, and are beautiful to look at but they can cause untold damage as there is no control over where these burning structures of paper, metal and wood decide to land.

‘Across the UK, there have been many reports of fires started by lanterns and harm to livestock when lanterns have landed in fields and have been eaten. There is a further risk to stock when grass is cut and ensiled for winter feed, and the wire is chopped up and subsequently contained in hay or silage.’