We should think about banning Chinese lanterns, says Lib Dem president It's taken an incident like this in an urban environment to really bring this to the headlines. They do look absolutely lovely, they are spectacular things, I am loath to ban them, or to seek to ban them. But they were immensely dangerous. The Spanish, who are a pretty fun-loving group, take a view that they'd ban them in recent years as well because of the impact on livestock and crops, and indeed property and potentially the threat to life. Debate about the issue has raged since the fire at J&A Young, a plastics recycling plant in Smethwick, West Midlands, involved 50,000 tonnes of plastic recycling material and a factory unit, and has been declared a major incident. West Midlands Fire Service warned it could take days to extinguish the flames, which have caused £6 million of damage to the recycling centre. The fire sent a plume of smoke rising 6,000ft into the air and Birmingham International Airport was alerted. An ambulance service spokesman said the smoke plume was so high it could be seen in Warwickshire, 30 miles away. Eleven fire fighters received minor injuries at the scene and three were taken to hospital. One of the three had an eye injury and another had an ankle injury. The others were treated at the scene for minor heat-related injuries. Jack Awal/HotSpot Media Local residents were meanwhile advised to keep their windows closed. No homes have been evacuated, however, as the area is largely industrial. West Midlands Fire Service said it had more than 35 appliances at the scene of the blaze in Dartmouth Road and had to call in support from the neighbouring brigades of Hereford and Worcester and Staffordshire. In an update on Twitter, it said: "Major fire at Smethwick caused by a chinese lantern - make sure you use them safely." @WestMidsFire Vijith Randeniya, chief fire officer of West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service, said: "Looking at the CCTV evidence you can see a Chinese lantern floating gently and then land, and then eight minutes later you see the fire start." He called for a review into use of the lanterns and said it was time that "sensible people have a sensible discussion" about the issue. "We don't want to be party poopers and we know they are used in a lot of celebrations," he said. What we want to do is make sure sensible people have a sensible discussion about the use of these things. Clearly there is a cause and an effect We have a situation where a fire has started here, £6 million worth of loss, started by one of these lanterns and that was eminently preventable. Fire fighters were having to use plant machinery to "break up" the bales of plastic to get at the heart of the fire and were faced with the problem of having to extinguish molten pools of melted plastic, he added. Chinese lanterns have been blamed for a number of previous fires, prompting calls for them to be banned. In June 2011, a Chinese lantern caused a large fire at an industrial estate in Somerton, Somerset. The following month, a family was forced to flee their home in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, after a Chinese sky lantern set fire to their roof. The ancient Chinese decorations, which are supposed to bring good luck, first became popular in Britain around four years ago but farmers have warned they can harm animals and the environment. The Marine Conservation Society and National Farmes Union have been calling for a ban on Chinese lanterns because of the risk to livestock and wildlife, pollution, and risk of fires in fields, on moorland, on thatched rooves and in old barns. Eunice Finney, vice president of the Women's Food and Farming Union, said: "These lanterns are far more dangerous than fireworks. We have warned Defra that there could be a death next while our politicians fail to act. Mary Creagh MP, Labour's Shadow Environment Secretary, said the Government was warned. The Government has spent £25 000 on a report into sky lanterns which found they are a significant fire risk, may hamper search and rescue services, and could pose a danger to aeroplanes. They also pose a risk to cattle that could be injured by them- yet the government has decided to do nothing. After the Smethwick fire, Ministers must look at this issue again.