Farmers in Wales, who had attempted to secure a ban on helium balloons and sky lanterns have expressed their "disappointment" that the campaign did not receive government support.

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The Farmers' Union of Wales said it was disappointed after its calls to ban the lanterns and balloons were rejected by the Welsh government, following a study into the environmental impacts of the products.

An ADAS study, jointly commissioned by Defra and the Welsh Government, looked into the risks presented to livestock and the wider environment by sky lanterns and helium balloons. The study also examined the effects in terms of littering, fire risk and potential to harm marine life. Farmers have long claimed that the lanterns in particular could harm cattle and pollute the environment. However, lantern manufacturers maintain that the danger is posed primarily by "cheap lanterns" and that the industry is moving away from wire framed lanterns.

Nevertheless, FUW's land-use policy officer Andrew Gurney said, "We received numerous reports from members of sky lanterns being found in fields which were being grazed, were about to be grazed, or cut for silage or hay. Other more serious reports received included a lantern found smouldering in a barn containing hay and straw and a cow injured following a stampede started by lanterns floating over fields containing livestock."

ADAS admitted that there is deep concern in the farming industry over the issue of sky lanterns, but concluded that the evidence indicated the number of cases reported annually of animals affected through panic and fright or ingestion of sky lantern debris was "very small".

FUW's Mr Gurney continued, "The study accepted there may be a significant level of under-reporting but, based on the evidence ADAS say they received, they found it difficult to conclude that the overall impact is anything other than 'of minor significance'."

However, in the face of ADAS' conclusions that the impact of helium balloons and lanterns is "very small and confined to isolated incidents," Mr Gurney said FUW would continue to push for a ban, "Due to the dangers [lanterns] pose to the agricultural sector." He elaborated that the lanterns' frames pose a risk to livestock and that the lanterns themselves could present a fire risk "during dry summer months".

In England, the NFU has called for an outright ban on the lanterns, which have also been outlawed in Vietnam, Thailand, Spain and some German states.