Island residents are being asked what they think about a proposal to ban Chinese sky lanterns.

The Office of Fair Trading wants to prohibit the sale of the lanterns in the Isle of Man.

Chairman David Quirk MHK explained: 'In September 2014, the Manx National Farmers' Union called for legislation to be introduced banning sale and the release of sky lanterns in the island following a post-mortem on a cow which had died having ingested part of a sky lantern.

'Very importantly, there are also issues with regard to public safety. In discussions between the OFT and the Chief Fire Officer, it became clear that there were significant concerns about the potential risk to the public through fire and personal injury such as burns. We don’t want to wait till there is a serious incident before taking action.'

Anyone who wants to comment can obtain the consultation document from the OFT by calling 686500 or from the website www.gov.im/oft/consultations.gov

The closing date for comments is Friday July 3.

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