Birmingham councillors vote for sky lanterns ban following recycling fire

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Councillors on Birmingham City Council’s licensing committee have called for a ban on sky lanterns.

This follows a fire at the Jayplas plastic recycling facility in the city that caused £6 million worth of damage after what appeared to be a sky lantern landed on stored plastic bales.

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As a meeting of the licensing committee, the councillors voted in favour of writing to both the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs requesting a ban of the lanterns.

Cllr Lynda Clinton who voted in favour of the motion said: “I would welcome a total ban on them give the devastation it cause, as it possibly could have led to deaths.”

The blaze in June was tackled by 200 firefighters, and 11 of these were injured while tackling the blaze. It was described by West Midlands Fire Service as one of the largest fires it had ever tackled.