In recent years it has seemed that no celebration is complete without a finale of paper lanterns floating into the night sky. But the growing popularity of Chinese lanterns is putting houses, livestock, crops and even lives at risk, organisations from the National Farmers' Union to the Civil Aviation Authority warn today.

The group wants a ban on the sale of the sky lanterns, which are paper and wire hot air balloons fuelled by a naked flame and date back to 3rd-century China.

"People have no control where they land," said Nick von Westenholz, government affairs adviser for the NFU. "We don't want something awful to happen before something is done."

Dorset and Somerset fire service said it had seen a sharp increase in lantern fires in the past year: "Though they may look very pretty, we are dealing with dangerous materials, fire and hot oil."

In Wrexham, a three-year-old boy's face was badly burned on bonfire night last year when a lantern broke and spilled hot oil.

Farmers say cows suffer stomach damage from eating the wire of fallen lanterns. Crops are also at risk; last summer in Oxfordshire, a blaze from a lantern destroyed 2.5 hectares of barley. Litter is also a problem, said the NFU: "The people releasing lanterns wouldn't dream of dumping rubbish, but that's what is happening."

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency says coastguards and lifeboats are sent out needlessly. In 2010 the agency recorded 1,500 flare incidents, of which 500 were believed to be false alarms caused by lanterns, while the CAA says they also pose danger to landing aircraft.

The Women's Food and Farming Union has submitted a report to an EU committee on product safety. Its president, Helen Bower, said: "We hope people see sense and they are banned. We don't want to be spoilsports, but this is not a British tradition and it's a safety issue."

Nigel Deasy, station manager for the Dorset and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service, which has seen a sharp increase in lantern-related fires in the past year, said: "Although they may look very pretty, we are dealing with dangerous materials – fire and hot oil – and they need to be treated with caution."

The agriculture minister, Jim Paice, said the government was working with the farming industry to address the risks.