Nassau said: “It’s all over the media about the risk of fire in the countryside. It puts people’s lives at risk, livelihoods at risk.
“Trying to stop a fire where we are now, it could spread to other farmland, crops.
“These things should be banned nationally, but I can’t understand anybody at this moment in time why they would light it.
“The grass is tender, tender dry and it would just take a little spark.
“These are a ticking time bomb at the moment in the countryside.”
According to the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), external, a large proportion of local authorities, including East Riding of Yorkshire Council, were supporting its campaign to ban sky lanterns, including banning their release from council-owned land.
The NFU says every year up to 200,000 sky lanterns are released in the UK.
Nassau added: “People think it is a nice thing to do, [but] even when they get put out, there’s still a risk to livestock and wildlife [due to the metal parts].
“Everybody has to play their part in this – stop buying them, stop using them and protect the countryside, because it’s everybody’s countryside.”