Ban these Chinese lanterns before it is too late

From: Mrs C Louise Hobson, Glovershaw Lane, Eldwick, Bingley.

I RUN a small livery yard on the edge of Baildon Moor. Last week, a Chinese lantern dropped from the sky into the yard, narrowly missing a six-year-old child.

It was well alight and bounced and blew around the yard area, throwing sparks and flames in all directions.

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Thankfully, despite the hay barn being only a couple of yards from this incendiary device, tragedy was averted because the people present were able to throw buckets of water at it.

While I appreciate the lanterns do look enchanting in a dark, night sky, this was broad daylight, thus the effect was not visible. Why it had been set off escaped us.

The lanterns are a menace to livestock. There is nothing remotely enchanting about seeing a horse or cow choke to death on the bits of wire that make up the skeletons of these things and which lie around on grass pastures long after the paper has gone.

Had the flaming lantern got into our hay barn, the whole lot would have gone up in flames. This would then have endangered the lives of our horses and other livestock housed close by.

We have lived for centuries without these wretched things, I am sure we can live without them again. We should follow the lead of Germany and ban them before they cause loss of human life.

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