Weymouth and Portland could be the next area to ban balloons and lanterns from council owned land. 

A motion has been put forward to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council to ban the release of helium balloons and Chinese sky lanterns from land under its ownership. 

It comes after West Dorset District Council and Bridport Town Council recently passed similar motions. 

Calls to ban balloon and lantern releases are backed nationally by organisations such as the Marine Conservation Society and the RSPCA, and have been proposed by the Green Party in councils across the country. 

Over 30 councils have already banned the items from council land, and North Dorset District Council are being urged to follow suit. The motion was put forward by Cllr Claudia Moore, a Green Party member who has been involved with the Friends of Rodwell Trail in the past.

She said: “Lantern and balloon releases which end up as litter on land or sea and pose a risk to livestock and marine animals which mistake balloons in particular for food. 

“Balloons have been found ingested in endangered turtles, dolphins, whales and seabirds. Livestock have died after eating degraded lanterns, which are accidentally picked up by harvesting machinery and put into winter feeds. Discarded latex balloons can take months or years to biodegrade. 

“Foil balloons may never biodegrade.”

“In April 2016 a sky lantern landed on a Dorset Nature reserve near Wareham starting a major gorse fire.”

Lanterns also pose a fire risk to crops in the summer months, and have caused a number of false alarm call outs on the coast as people mistake them for distress flares or floating people. 

The proposals come as part of the ‘2 minute beach clean’ campaign that WPBC started with Litter Free Coast and Sea in December last year. 

Cllr Moore added: “I’m sure there will be some opposition. 

“People might argue it spoils people’s fun, and I know that they are sometimes used in memorials. I think we can encourage people to do something more environmentally friendly such as planting flowers or trees.”

Chinese lanterns, made from paper stretched over a wire frame and lit with a naked flame, are often used at parties and celebrations. 

Thousands are sold in the UK every year. 

The motion is set to be discussed at the full council meeting tonight.