FARMING bodies in Cumbria are fighting to ban controversial Chinese lanterns they believe are putting the lives of animals at risk.

The Women’s Food and Farming Union, NFU and RSPCA are all stepping up their campaigns to call for a ban on the floating illuminations, which are becoming increasingly popular at weddings and music festivals.

Margaret Gibson, of the WFU, based at Burneside Hall Farm, Burneside, has found lanterns — mini hot air balloons made of paper and wire — on her land.

Farmers fear the wire could find its way into winter feed through harvest machines and then be eaten by animals.

Experts fear it will not be long before the deaths of cattle, which have taken place across Britain, become more commonplace in Cumbria.

“People don’t understand that what goes up has to come down and these lanterns are a real hazard,” said Mrs Gibson.

“It is a very serious issue. My son, Jonathan, found one in among the grass where the dairy cows were grazing.

“I have been hearing about the terrible problems from our members all over the country.

“These lanterns are often let off to celebrate special occasions but they cause havoc in the countryside.

“If they are digested by cattle, it can kill them. If they are bailed in hay silage or straw, it has the same affect during the winter months.

"They are also a potential fire hazard.”

Selside farmer Steven Dixon, Cumbria YFC chairman, has also come across burned-out lanterns.

“We found them in the mowing grass,” he said.

“If we hadn’t noticed them and they had got caught up when we were mowing, they would have ended up in the silage pit and would have been eaten.”

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg recently told the Commons that the issue was causing ‘a great deal of distress to both farmers and their livestock’.

The lanterns have also been blamed for a rise in apparent UFO sightings.