Surrey Fire and Rescue Service is urging people to be careful when using floating sky lanterns, the latest party decoration essential.

Although the lanterns - alternatively known as Thai good luck lanterns or fire balloons - can add an element of excitement to festivities, the service warned the open flame within them can be potentially harmful if not used with caution.

Bryn Strudwick, the service’s fire investigation manager, said: “While these decorations might appear to be harmless given their delicate nature, they pose an immediate danger to the surrounding environment.

“If a lantern was allowed to float near a barn or any kind of dry vegetation the consequences could be extremely serious.

"Although it can be difficult to prove, we suspect lanterns to have been the cause of a number of grassland fires this year.

“They leave behind very little trace, but their impact can be enormous and therefore we wouldn’t want anyone to underestimate the dangers associated with these decorations.

“The potential for these lanterns to start random fires as they fall to earth or come in to contact with something is obvious.

"Regardless of what the packaging might say, these lanterns pose a substantial fire risk.”

For further fire safety advice, visit surrey-fire.gov.uk or call 01737 242 444.

• What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.