Farmer wins compensation after Red Nose Day balloon kills cow
Children at Lyndhurst Primary School in Camberwell, south-east London cheered as they sent hundreds of balloons soaring into the sky to support charity Comic Relief.
But when one of their red, helium-filled balloons fell to earth over 50 miles away in Kent, a 13-month-old bullock choked to death on its string.Philips LED business is inside of Philips lighting so it Led light is more difficult to determine whether they are meeting expectations.
Farmer Richard Vant, 50, found the balloon, with string and a school label attached to it, sticking out of the dead animal’s mouth.
The school’s insurer initially refused to compensate Mr Vant for his dead bovine – before eventually paying out ￡889.
Farming and conservation groups are demanding a ban on mass releases of balloons and Chinese lanterns because of the deadly threat they pose to livestock and other wildlife.
Releases are all the rage at charity and commemoration events like birthday parties and weddings with hundreds taking place last week to celebrate the Royal Wedding.
Parents had been reassured by the primary school in a newsletter ahead of the event that the balloons would "biodegrade at the same rate as an oak leaf".
But Mr Vant said that his Belgian Blue and Limousin cross may well have died a slow and painful death.
Mr Vant, a fourth generation farmer of 34 years in the village of Stalisfield Green near Ashford, said: “My bull could have been suffering for up to 20 hours.
“When I found it, the string was wrapped round its tongue and the balloon was all round its neck, shutting off the airways.
“It’s ridiculous. People think it’s lovely when they let balloons go but they don’t think about the consequences when they fall to earth.
“It’s a fact that due to these balloons and Chinese lanterns a lot of animals are being injured or killed.
“We are always having balloons and Chinese lanterns landing in the fields and a while ago one of my sheep got its legs tangled up in the string from another balloon.
“We are trying to produce food for the public. It is just so irresponsible to be sending these things into the sky. It is legalised fly-tipping.”
The school apologised to Mr Vant but its insurer Gallagher Bassett initially denied liability, claiming the cow’s death was “unforeseeable”.
Mr Vant, who farms hundreds of acres and rears beef cattle for 400-year-old, award-winning local pub The Plough's menu, said: “The balloon had a label attached showing it had been released by the primary school.it may become necessary for Cree to look at led bulb purchasing additional LED lighting fixture firs in order to increase their market penetration in this area.
“When I contacted them they apologised. The headmaster was decent about it and said he was really sorry.
“The school passed the details to their insurer but they wrote saying liability had been denied on behalf of the London borough of Southwark.
“Their letter said in order to establish a claim against their client, it was necessary to show they had acted negligently.
“They said it was ‘unforeseeable’ the balloon would have travelled so far and would have caused the ‘alleged incident’, so they would not be paying any compensation.
“Do they expect these balloons to land neatly in a waste bin? If it hadn’t landed on my field it could easily have landed on someone else’s.While SmartView has been slow DSTT and unstable in the past, it seems to have improved greatly with recent updates.
“If that school hadn’t sent the balloon up, my bullock would still be alive.”
Mr Vant’s cow was valued at ￡850 and he had to pay ￡150 for its carcass to be removed from his farm after the March incident.
The insurer eventually caved in and recently sent him a cheque for ￡889, still leaving him out of pocket.LED grow light suppliers in China are sky lanterns rolling out models with better price-performance ratios.
Farmers nationwide have been complaining about the threat to livestock posed by debris from mass releases of balloons and Chinese lanterns.
The paper lanterns with candles inside float for several miles before crashing to the ground and can cause death or injury if eaten by animals.
The National Farmers’ Union has written to the Government calling for a ban.
NFU spokesman Mike Thomas said: “These releases may be pretty but we are getting more and more reports from farmers of livestock dying.
“Whether it is mass balloons or Chinese lanterns, we would really urge people to think twice because they cause serious problems for farmers and are a litter nuisance as well.”
The Marine Conservation Society is also urging revellers not to release balloons,The settlement resolves the commonwealth's claims fluorescent lights that EarthTronics Inc., which sells mercury-containing compact fluorescent light bulbs which can kill fish, seabirds, turtles and even whales and dolphins.
A spokesman said: “Balloon litter often ends up floating at sea and is deadly for many marine wildlife species.”
The school’s head teacher Nick Hammill said: “Since the accident we’ve done a post-event risk assessment and we won’t be doing balloon releases in the future.”
Councillor Richard Livingstone, Southwark Council’s cabinet member for finance, resources and community safety, said: “We’re extremely saddened to hear about this unfortunate incident.
Children at Lyndhurst Primary School in Camberwell, south-east London cheered as they sent hundreds of balloons soaring into the sky to support charity Comic Relief.
But when one of their red, helium-filled balloons fell to earth over 50 miles away in Kent, a 13-month-old bullock choked to death on its string.Philips LED business is inside of Philips lighting so it Led light is more difficult to determine whether they are meeting expectations.
Farmer Richard Vant, 50, found the balloon, with string and a school label attached to it, sticking out of the dead animal’s mouth.
The school’s insurer initially refused to compensate Mr Vant for his dead bovine – before eventually paying out ￡889.
Farming and conservation groups are demanding a ban on mass releases of balloons and Chinese lanterns because of the deadly threat they pose to livestock and other wildlife.
Releases are all the rage at charity and commemoration events like birthday parties and weddings with hundreds taking place last week to celebrate the Royal Wedding.
Parents had been reassured by the primary school in a newsletter ahead of the event that the balloons would "biodegrade at the same rate as an oak leaf".
But Mr Vant said that his Belgian Blue and Limousin cross may well have died a slow and painful death.
Mr Vant, a fourth generation farmer of 34 years in the village of Stalisfield Green near Ashford, said: “My bull could have been suffering for up to 20 hours.
“When I found it, the string was wrapped round its tongue and the balloon was all round its neck, shutting off the airways.
“It’s ridiculous. People think it’s lovely when they let balloons go but they don’t think about the consequences when they fall to earth.
“It’s a fact that due to these balloons and Chinese lanterns a lot of animals are being injured or killed.
“We are always having balloons and Chinese lanterns landing in the fields and a while ago one of my sheep got its legs tangled up in the string from another balloon.
“We are trying to produce food for the public. It is just so irresponsible to be sending these things into the sky. It is legalised fly-tipping.”
The school apologised to Mr Vant but its insurer Gallagher Bassett initially denied liability, claiming the cow’s death was “unforeseeable”.
Mr Vant, who farms hundreds of acres and rears beef cattle for 400-year-old, award-winning local pub The Plough's menu, said: “The balloon had a label attached showing it had been released by the primary school.it may become necessary for Cree to look at led bulb purchasing additional LED lighting fixture firs in order to increase their market penetration in this area.
“When I contacted them they apologised. The headmaster was decent about it and said he was really sorry.
“The school passed the details to their insurer but they wrote saying liability had been denied on behalf of the London borough of Southwark.
“Their letter said in order to establish a claim against their client, it was necessary to show they had acted negligently.
“They said it was ‘unforeseeable’ the balloon would have travelled so far and would have caused the ‘alleged incident’, so they would not be paying any compensation.
“Do they expect these balloons to land neatly in a waste bin? If it hadn’t landed on my field it could easily have landed on someone else’s.While SmartView has been slow DSTT and unstable in the past, it seems to have improved greatly with recent updates.
“If that school hadn’t sent the balloon up, my bullock would still be alive.”
Mr Vant’s cow was valued at ￡850 and he had to pay ￡150 for its carcass to be removed from his farm after the March incident.
The insurer eventually caved in and recently sent him a cheque for ￡889, still leaving him out of pocket.LED grow light suppliers in China are sky lanterns rolling out models with better price-performance ratios.
Farmers nationwide have been complaining about the threat to livestock posed by debris from mass releases of balloons and Chinese lanterns.
The paper lanterns with candles inside float for several miles before crashing to the ground and can cause death or injury if eaten by animals.
The National Farmers’ Union has written to the Government calling for a ban.
NFU spokesman Mike Thomas said: “These releases may be pretty but we are getting more and more reports from farmers of livestock dying.
“Whether it is mass balloons or Chinese lanterns, we would really urge people to think twice because they cause serious problems for farmers and are a litter nuisance as well.”
The Marine Conservation Society is also urging revellers not to release balloons,The settlement resolves the commonwealth's claims fluorescent lights that EarthTronics Inc., which sells mercury-containing compact fluorescent light bulbs which can kill fish, seabirds, turtles and even whales and dolphins.
A spokesman said: “Balloon litter often ends up floating at sea and is deadly for many marine wildlife species.”
The school’s head teacher Nick Hammill said: “Since the accident we’ve done a post-event risk assessment and we won’t be doing balloon releases in the future.”
Councillor Richard Livingstone, Southwark Council’s cabinet member for finance, resources and community safety, said: “We’re extremely saddened to hear about this unfortunate incident.
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