ORGANISERS of an annual music festival have announced a ban on Chinese fire Lanterns this year, claiming “lots of beer and naked flames do not mix”.

Last week a stray Chinese Lantern, set off at a birthday celebration, landed in a field near Woodstock and destroyed six acres of barley worth between £3,000-£4,000.

Now Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, which takes place surrounded by farmland outside Banbury, has announced that it will be banning the lanterns.

Festival director Gareth Williams said that however lovely the lights may look at sunset, they were still potentially dangerous.

He said: “We’ve got seven campsites here, each containing thousands of tents, and completely surrounded by crop fields. We do not want to risk starting a fire either in the campsites or in these fields. Large quantities of beer and fire do not mix, which is why we don’t allow things like barbecues or naked flames anywhere on the site.

“A few people set them off last year, and they did look lovely, but to be honest it is just not worth the risk.”

The festival runs from this Thursday to Saturday.