Lancashire farmers have called for a ban on Chinese sky lanterns after claiming they are killing and injuring livestock.

The paper lanterns, which float into the air by lighting a candle inside them, have become increasingly popular over the last few years.

But the floating illuminations are causing ‘havoc’ for local farmers who say they pose a serious risk to animals when they land on their fields.

According to the NFU there have been a number of cases of animals’ stomachs being ruptured when the wiring is swallowed.

Graham Young, who runs Greenhurst Farm in Samlesbury, fears that bits of the mini-hot air balloons could find their way into winter feed through harvest machines and then be eaten by animals.

He also raised concerns that the lights could set fire to fields of standing crops or dry hay and straw in the summer.

Mr Young said: “They are incredibly dangerous and I want to see them banned.

“We have heard so many horror stories about animals eating them and suffering a slow painful death as a result because the wire has punctured the oesophagus or stomach, meaning that the animal will spent days suffocating on their own food.

“They're made of a hoop of bamboo, which in itself is a very sharp piece of wood when it's broken, and then there's a crosspiece of wire.

“If we silage-make in any of these fields, this is all going to be chopped to pieces if we don't see it and find it.

"That's going to go into my silage clamp and next year I'm going to have dead cows.”

Now Ribble Valley MP, Nigel Evans, and the Clitheroe National Farmers Union, have written to the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to raise awareness of the dangers lanterns pose.

Meanwhile, Cath Wright, who runs Lower Hall Farm in Potters Lane, Samlesbury, who has found dozens of lanterns on her fields said her lambs could have been killed.

She added: “If they had come in smouldering and landed on the straw bedding the whole lot could have gone up in flames. They are a total hazard and should be banned."

Andrew Rothwell from the NFU said they had received many complaints from members about the issue.

He said: “They are clearly very dangerous to livestock.

"We want people to carefully consider the potential consequences before letting them off.”