A FIRE service chief has called for ‘destructive’ Chinese lanterns to be banned in parts of Lancashire.

Recent incidents in the area have seen the lanterns start fires when they land.

And crews have also been called when a lantern landed on the roof of a petrol station.

Steve Morgan, prevention support manager for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, said people setting off the devices were probably unaware of the damage they could cause.

He said: “There is no guarantee that the fuel source will be fully extinguished and cooled when the lantern eventually descends and that presents a real fire hazard.

“We have had several fires, typically caused by them landing in dry vegetation, in the past 18 months in Lancashire.

“Our experience suggests that it is only a matter of time before a lantern starts a serious blaze in the county.

“Unsuitable locations for flying lanterns include areas with standing crops, near buildings, woodland and moorland.

“With recent experience of a week-long moorland fire at Belmont, we are only too aware of the way that tinder-dry grass, shrubs and trees can easily and quickly ignite and burn with great ferocity.

“That said, lanterns can travel considerable distances and their flight direction and where they land is unpredictable, so there is a strong argument to ban their use altogether, which is the case in most parts of Germany and even in some provinces of their country of origin.”

Chinese flying lanterns have become increasingly popular at night-time parties and evening events.

Made from paper on a wire frame and incorporating a holder at the base for a solid fuel heat source to get the balloon airborne, during an average flight time of 20 minutes the lanterns can soar to a height of over 1,200 feet.

The National Farmers’ Union has expressed concern about the lanterns, saying that as well as the potential fire hazard, the wire from the lanterns can wreck farm machinery or be chopped up and get into animal feed, with disastrous results.