A TOWN Councillor has called on Bolton residents to avoid releasing sky lanterns on bonfire night — echoing advice from the government.

Blackrod councillor Graham Farrington has been campaigning for the devices, often known as ‘Chinese Lanterns’ to be banned because they can kill animals and start devastating fires.

Cllr Farrington, a former farmer, said he was pleased to hear that the Government has issued advice to people recommending that sky lanterns are not released.

In a guide to celebrating bonfire night, published by the Department of Communities and Local Government, the advice reads: “We recommend that you do not use sky lanterns as you have no control over them once they’ve been set off. They can kill animals, litter the countryside and start fires.”

Cllr Farrington said the statement was “a step in the right direction” towards an outright ban, which he has been calling for since last year.

He said: “The fact that they are suggesting that people don’t set the lanterns off is definitely a good thing, it makes people more aware about the dangers.

“We had previously heard from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs that the risk of the lanterns was low, which is not true, so it is good to see another department stepping in.”

A lantern was the cause of the Smethwick recycling plant fire last summer, which caused 100,000 tons of plastic to go up in flames, injuring 10 firefighters.

The lanterns have been blamed for cattle deaths after they have eaten the wire frames which fall into fields.

Cllr Farrington said: “We are supposed to be a nation of animal lovers and yet we set these things off that then cause cows and other animals to have a very slow and painful death — if people could see what these devices do then I don’t think they would set them off.”

Bolton West MP Julie Hilling has previously raised the issue of banning sky lanterns outright in the House of Commons.