TODAY sees the start of the Chinese New Year celebrations and NFU deputy president Minette Batters, who farms beef cattle locally, near Downton, has warned people not to see in the New Year by letting off sky lanterns.

This is due to the destruction and damage they cause to livestock, the possibility of fires, accidentally alerting coastal rescue services, littering land and sea and the risk they pose to aviation.

Ms Batters said: “I know from personal experience just how dangerous sky lanterns can be – I lost a cow from my own herd which died after eating some fine wire from a lantern that landed on the farm – the post mortem revealed this to be the cause of death.”

Dozens of local authorities and venues have issued bans on the lanterns. They have traditionally been released as a symbol of good luck, but partygoers are being asked to think twice before using them.