:00:05. > :00:07.You're watching X-Ray. Bringing you the stories that
:00:07. > :00:10.matter. Mike paid almost �35,000 to a
:00:10. > :00:14.company who promised to manage his debts, but today he's worse off
:00:14. > :00:20.than ever. New ID, the company selling a
:00:20. > :00:23.makeover and photoshoot for �50, but is that all you'll pay?
:00:23. > :00:33.And recycling your old mobile phone, good for the environment and your
:00:33. > :00:44.
:00:44. > :00:47.Hello. Tonight we are in Merthyr Tydfil. Later on, we will be
:00:47. > :00:50.finding out how parents here are saving money on school uniforms.
:00:50. > :00:53.First, though, paying off debts can be a slow and painful process, and
:00:54. > :01:00.there are plenty of companies out there who are keen to help you
:01:00. > :01:03.manage your money problems. Rachel's been to meet one man who
:01:03. > :01:13.turned to the experts for help, only to find himself in worse
:01:13. > :01:13.
:01:13. > :01:20.Sometimes, when you've got a problem, you need to call an expert.
:01:21. > :01:30.Everyone knows that. OK, then, class, if I've got a toothache, who
:01:31. > :01:31.
:01:31. > :01:41.would I need to call? Dentist! a dentist. And what about when your
:01:41. > :01:41.
:01:41. > :01:45.car breaks down? Mechanic! Yes, you call a mechanic! Now then, If
:01:45. > :01:48.you've got problems with money, If you cannot pay all the bills who do
:01:48. > :01:52.you think you call then? Bank? it says here you should call a
:01:52. > :01:55.bankrupt. That can't be right. Can it? When father of two Mike Jones
:01:55. > :01:57.from Cwmbran found himself struggling with debt he turned to
:01:57. > :02:00.the experts, debt management specialists Apex DCM. Today, Mike
:02:00. > :02:03.likes nothing more than relaxing with his 4-year-old son, Jackson.
:02:03. > :02:11.But seven years ago, a bitter custody battle over his older child
:02:11. > :02:16.left him tens of thousands of pounds in debt. You feel trapped.
:02:16. > :02:20.And you are going down an even deeper black hole. It was just
:02:20. > :02:25.spiralling downwards. Mike owed nearly �39,000 when he sought
:02:25. > :02:27.expert help. Apex DCM offered to take over the debt, deal with
:02:27. > :02:33.Mike's creditors and negotiate repayments, whilst Mike paid them a
:02:33. > :02:36.lump sum each month. But what Mike did not realise was that the
:02:36. > :02:41.company was being run by a former bankrupt, John Baird, shown here on
:02:41. > :02:47.local news. But, at the time, Mike believed the company was offering
:02:47. > :02:50.him a lifeline. It feels like someone just chucked a ladder down
:02:50. > :02:54.a hole. It's a way out. It's the best feeling you could possibly
:02:54. > :02:57.have. You are in a position where you have got no help and you can't
:02:57. > :03:02.get out and then someone comes along and says, "We're going to
:03:02. > :03:08.help you". Mike struggled to make the monthly repayments of between
:03:08. > :03:13.�450 and �650 every month. There was times when my eldest son needed
:03:13. > :03:18.clothes and I couldn't get them for him because I didn't have the money.
:03:18. > :03:23.My whole life revolved around DCM getting paid. And he kept on paying,
:03:23. > :03:26.because he had been told he would be debt-free within six years. Then,
:03:26. > :03:33.last December, after a period on the sick, Mike called DCM to ask
:03:33. > :03:37.how much was left to pay. She says, "�36,000" and I say, "Hang on, that
:03:37. > :03:45.is not far off the start figure and I've been with you nearly six years
:03:45. > :03:52.so you must be looking at the wrong figure." Then, in March this year,
:03:52. > :04:02.there was another shock. Apex DCM went into administration. They
:04:02. > :04:02.
:04:02. > :04:06.clearly seemed to need a little help with their maths. So Mike came
:04:06. > :04:16.to Apex DCM with debts of 38,900. When the company went bust he still
:04:16. > :04:17.
:04:17. > :04:24.owed �34,600. So the company paid off just �4,300 of Mike's debts,
:04:24. > :04:34.even though he had paid them more than �34,000. There's �30,000
:04:34. > :04:36.
:04:36. > :04:40.missing. �30,000. That's nearly a whole year's full wages before tax.
:04:40. > :04:50.Tell me how you felt when you saw that. An abyss just opens up
:04:50. > :04:52.
:04:52. > :04:55.underneath you and you just wants to suck you in. You look inward and
:04:55. > :04:58.you ask how you could allow yourself to be scammed for �30,000.
:04:58. > :05:01.Amazingly, other customers have been even worse off. More than 500
:05:01. > :05:06.customers have seen their debts stay the same or go up since they
:05:06. > :05:09.signed with DCM Apex. So where has all the money gone? The answer, it
:05:09. > :05:14.seems lies with not one, but two former bankrupts. John Baird, who
:05:14. > :05:17.died in 2009, started Apex DCM with Sentley Wilson. He was later made
:05:17. > :05:26.bankrupt and was also banned from working as a solicitor for
:05:26. > :05:28.misappropriating clients money. It turns out that Baird and Wilson
:05:28. > :05:31.were directors of many other companies, several of which have
:05:32. > :05:39.gone out of business. It appears that more than �1.3 million of Apex
:05:39. > :05:42.DCM's cash, including Mike's money, was loaned to these companies.
:05:42. > :05:48.These loans may have been made entirely legitimately and with the
:05:48. > :05:51.best intentions to help other companies. At the other end of the
:05:51. > :05:54.spectrum, it could be that these payments were deliberately made to
:05:54. > :06:04.defraud creditors of Apex DCM and move that money out to benefit
:06:04. > :06:07.
:06:07. > :06:10.ultimately someone else. What do you think the chances are that
:06:10. > :06:15.customers will get some money back from all of this? Unfortunately, it
:06:15. > :06:19.is unlikely that people will get their money back on this occasion.
:06:19. > :06:25.It seems Sentley Wilson, the only survivor of the two men who started
:06:25. > :06:29.the company in 2002, has a lot of questions to answer. But he has
:06:29. > :06:31.refused to respond to any of our letters. Administrators are still
:06:31. > :06:37.investigating the company and both the police and the Insolvency
:06:37. > :06:43.Service say they will look at their findings. But Mike has been left
:06:43. > :06:46.with only one option, to declare himself bankrupt. I could have gone
:06:46. > :06:53.bankrupt seven years ago and be out and be putting my life back
:06:53. > :07:01.together again. But there was a pride in me in paying back what I
:07:01. > :07:05.borrowed. We are back on near breadline again. Any father would
:07:05. > :07:13.want to do the best for their children, and I can't.
:07:13. > :07:16.What a dreadful situation. It is, and cruel because Mike had
:07:16. > :07:19.really tried to do the right thing and pay off his debts.
:07:19. > :07:22.Is enough being done to regulate the industry?
:07:22. > :07:24.Well, DCM is an extreme example, but the Office of Fair Trading, who
:07:24. > :07:27.are the regulators, are clearly concerned about the practices of
:07:27. > :07:30.some debt management companies. In the last nine months, they have
:07:30. > :07:34.taken away the licences from 11 companies offering debt management,
:07:34. > :07:37.and they have given 129 warnings to businesses. They have also issued
:07:37. > :07:42.revised guidance for the industry so that firms are in no doubt about
:07:42. > :07:47.the standards they expect. So what's the advice for those who
:07:47. > :07:50.find themselves in debt? The main thing to say is you do not
:07:50. > :07:52.have to pay for debt management services, because there are various
:07:52. > :08:00.organisations who will provide those services completely free of
:08:00. > :08:07.charge. We have put their contact details on our website.
:08:07. > :08:10.Good advice. Now, what's Rhod up to? Well, this series we are
:08:10. > :08:13.looking at how local communities across Wales are saving money and,
:08:13. > :08:23.here at Gellifaelog Primary School, it is all about saving money on
:08:23. > :08:30.
:08:30. > :08:33.school uniforms. What are you up to here? We're
:08:33. > :08:39.preparing for a fate will we will sell these close that are being
:08:39. > :08:44.recycled. They are out to groan and unwanted pieces of school uniform.
:08:44. > :08:48.They were collected on a weekly basis and taken to an organisation
:08:48. > :08:53.that we are in partnership with four people set for in from all
:08:53. > :08:59.wore long term health problems. -- people suffering from long-term
:08:59. > :09:04.health problems. They are then brought back to each school and
:09:04. > :09:08.available for resale in the community. How much of the need is
:09:08. > :09:12.there for a scheme like this? huge need. What we found is that
:09:12. > :09:16.parents were actually going to doorstep lenders and paying
:09:16. > :09:22.extortionate amount of interest has to be able to buy the school
:09:22. > :09:31.uniforms. As an example, this is the blue uniform for a three to
:09:31. > :09:37.four-year-old girl. What would that be? That would be 25p. You could
:09:37. > :09:40.have this call -- the whole school uniform for just over �1.
:09:40. > :09:47.Next, Lucy's been looking at a company whose offers should not
:09:47. > :09:49.always be taken at face value. In the UK, the hair and beauty
:09:49. > :09:59.industry is worth a whopping �14 billion and employs over 150,000
:09:59. > :10:00.
:10:00. > :10:02.Some photo studios are trying to tap into the success of the beauty
:10:02. > :10:11.market. They offer makeovers followed by professionally taken
:10:11. > :10:15.photographs. In Cardiff, New ID Studios do just that. Hair and make
:10:15. > :10:19.up on a discount and free photos as mementos of the day. But their
:10:19. > :10:23.sales techniques are causing concern. Sharon Hale was cold
:10:23. > :10:29.called by New ID Studios. She bought a makeover for herself and
:10:29. > :10:32.her friend Linda Cook. They knocked on the door saying, "How would you
:10:32. > :10:38.like to have your hair done, facial head massage, make up and a free
:10:38. > :10:43.photograph for �25 for you and a friend?" And I told her I was
:10:43. > :10:48.partially sighted so I couldn't see what it said on the brochure. And
:10:48. > :10:54.she read all through the brochure and I said, "What's the catch?" And
:10:54. > :10:57.she said there was no catch. Sharon paid �50 and looked forward to a
:10:57. > :11:01.day of pampering for her and Linda. She then rang New ID Studios for an
:11:01. > :11:08.appointment. But she was in for her first rude shock. They said they
:11:08. > :11:12.wanted another �50 deposit. I said, "What's that for?" And they said,
:11:12. > :11:15."Just in case you don't turn up". And they said, "You'll get your
:11:15. > :11:22.money back as soon as you go in, you'll get your money back on your
:11:22. > :11:32.card". So Sharon paid another �50. But on the day, things didn't go to
:11:32. > :11:33.
:11:33. > :11:36.plan. Included in the package was supposed to be a glass of bubbly.
:11:37. > :11:40.Well, they couldn't even give us a cup of coffee because they didn't
:11:40. > :11:43.have any milk there. But that aside, they did cut our hair and it was
:11:43. > :11:46.excellent. Supposed to be a head massage, well, that turned out to
:11:47. > :11:51.be a conditioner that they put on our head, then full facial, was,
:11:51. > :11:55.for Sharon, baby wipes and for me was nothing. We've been in there
:11:55. > :11:58.over four hours then. So we went back to ask for the �50 being
:11:58. > :12:07.reimbursed on Sharon's card and they said, yet again, we couldn't
:12:07. > :12:12.have the �50 reimbursed, unless we go ahead with the photo shoot.
:12:12. > :12:17.Sharon and Linda had their photo shoot. They were then taken to
:12:17. > :12:27.another room at New ID Studios. They say the company told them
:12:27. > :12:30.
:12:30. > :12:33.there was no such thing as a free photograph. We had to pay for them
:12:33. > :12:37.and I looked at the cost at the beginning of the folder that they
:12:37. > :12:40.gave us to see their prices started at a thousand pounds, for a basic
:12:40. > :12:43.photograph with six more prints going up in stages of �200. A
:12:43. > :12:45.beauty experience, whether a haircut or make up, should be a
:12:45. > :12:51.pleasurable experience not something where you go inside a
:12:51. > :12:54.building and you feel like a prisoner that can't get out. Sharon
:12:54. > :13:00.and Linda stood their ground and refused to pay New ID any more
:13:00. > :13:06.money. But Sarah Hughes from Port Talbot ended up spending a lot more
:13:06. > :13:11.than she had planned. Sarah had received a voucher as a 30th
:13:11. > :13:21.birthday gift from her friends. She took her mum along and was looking
:13:21. > :13:24.
:13:24. > :13:29.forward to a day of being spoilt. was pleased with the makeover.
:13:29. > :13:32.did your hair. Yes, then went on to have my hair done, but she didn't
:13:32. > :13:35.seem that competent in doing my hair well, really. I wanted it
:13:35. > :13:38.curled but she was having some difficulty curling it. Sarah
:13:38. > :13:42.enjoyed the photo shoot. But after that, just like Sharon and Linda,
:13:42. > :13:45.she was taken in to a small room and asked to choose the photos she
:13:45. > :13:48.would like to buy. We were told that we couldn't have our three
:13:48. > :13:54.photos that we had already paid for and the three complimentary ones,
:13:54. > :14:00.that we would have to do a package if we wanted more photos. So it was
:14:00. > :14:04.all kind of confusing and throwing all these figures at us. I didn't
:14:04. > :14:08.quite understand what was going on quite, you know. After hours of
:14:08. > :14:15.saying no, Sarah finally paid up. But after having paid �550 in all
:14:15. > :14:21.her 14 photos didn't arrive for another six months! Just bitter
:14:21. > :14:26.about it all. Just feel gutted about the whole situation. What
:14:26. > :14:28.could've been a lovely experience has just been a lot of hassle. My
:14:29. > :14:32.friends are obviously gutted that they bought this as a birthday
:14:32. > :14:40.present for me as a lovely experience and this has come out of
:14:40. > :14:43.it and all this hassle to follow. Jamie Roberts from Consumer Direct
:14:43. > :14:48.says that customers need to remember that if they do end up
:14:48. > :14:56.agreeing to buy it counts as a legally binding agreement. The key
:14:56. > :14:59.is to remember your rights. Remember you are not under any
:14:59. > :15:02.obligation to say yes. You can say no without feeling rude. Sellers
:15:02. > :15:07.sell, it is their job to try and sell you a product and they will
:15:07. > :15:10.try and get you to say yes. The key is to realise you don't have to say
:15:10. > :15:13.yes. You don't have to offer an explanation as to why you are
:15:13. > :15:16.saying no. We contacted New ID Studios and told them about Sarah,
:15:16. > :15:18.Sharon and Linda's concerns. In their response they say they are
:15:18. > :15:21.extremely sorry. They say their pricing policy is clearly stated on
:15:21. > :15:25.their website and in their studios, and the price will change when
:15:25. > :15:28.promotions launch or expire. Once orders are placed. Due to the
:15:28. > :15:31.nature of their business they can't offer refunds when people cancel.
:15:31. > :15:37.They add that the vast majority of their 50,000 customers are happy
:15:37. > :15:40.with their services. Sharon and Linda got a refund last year. We
:15:40. > :15:50.also know from Sarah that New ID have called her, apologised and
:15:50. > :15:53.
:15:53. > :15:57.I bet they were pleased to get their money back. Yes, in the last
:15:57. > :16:02.few years, some companies have sprung up that will buy your old
:16:02. > :16:06.mobile phone, but not all of them offer a good deal.
:16:06. > :16:14.Most of us have got old mobile phones line around the house, in
:16:14. > :16:19.fact, it is thought that there are many used and unused handsets in
:16:19. > :16:24.our house holds. How many have you got? A couple, three or four, maybe.
:16:24. > :16:31.They are in the draw at home, there are about eight of them there.
:16:31. > :16:36.have got nine. I only ever had two. Whereas the first one? It is at
:16:36. > :16:41.home! With the average value of be used handset coming in at �66,
:16:41. > :16:48.there is a market willing to take them off your hands, promising you
:16:48. > :16:52.handsome amounts of cash for you're old mobile phones. But is the offer
:16:52. > :16:56.transforming this into this simply too good to be true? Back in March,
:16:56. > :17:05.Carleen Carlson found a company on the internet calls Fonecraze
:17:05. > :17:10.offering good prices for goods used phones. They are pretty good price
:17:10. > :17:16.on the website. They told me what address to send the mobile phone to.
:17:16. > :17:19.Immediately, that is what I did. She sent the mobile phone away and
:17:19. > :17:26.waited for the money. Nearly one month later she heard from the
:17:26. > :17:31.company but it wasn't the long awaited 81p 50. They contacted me
:17:31. > :17:37.saying that the money, we're not going to give it to you, we will
:17:37. > :17:43.give you �61.50 instead. It was because of a couple of scratches. I
:17:43. > :17:47.was outraged. I said that the mobile phone was used.
:17:47. > :17:51.The company said they would have to pay �12 to get the phone back if
:17:51. > :17:56.she wasn't happy with the revised price. She reluctantly accepted
:17:56. > :18:01.Bill Law offer but is still waiting for payment. I feel very frustrated
:18:01. > :18:06.that they have my mobile phone. They had not given me anything back.
:18:06. > :18:10.It is like they had been robbed by company. It is the principle. If
:18:10. > :18:15.somebody says they will do something, they should actually do
:18:15. > :18:21.what stay safe. Rather than actually let me carry on feeling
:18:21. > :18:26.frustrated. They have got your product. Yes, they have my mobile
:18:26. > :18:31.phone. What do I have in return? She isn't the only one that has
:18:31. > :18:34.made this mistake, it is estimated more than 200,000 phones are sent
:18:34. > :18:38.off each month in return for cash, and even though some companies are
:18:38. > :18:45.legitimate, a few of you have had problems with companies that are
:18:45. > :18:49.not. James Price was strapped for cash, so he contacted internet
:18:49. > :18:54.company Skyphones Europe to see what they would pay for his Old
:18:54. > :19:00.iPhone 3. I found them online. I sent the phone to them. They said
:19:00. > :19:05.they would offer me �227 for the mobile phones. Very generous.
:19:05. > :19:09.higher than everybody else, but it was a good price. James sent away
:19:09. > :19:13.the phone and waited for the money but nothing came. Instead, they
:19:13. > :19:19.lowered their offer and as in Carleen Carlson's face, said they
:19:19. > :19:24.would have to pay �12 to get the phone back. There were no scratches
:19:24. > :19:26.on the phone, so we were annoyed. We accepted this, and they sent me
:19:26. > :19:32.an e-mail saying they were transferred the money to my bank
:19:33. > :19:37.account, but then I received it. It was very frustrating. �200 is a lot
:19:37. > :19:42.of money for me, so it would have helped me. It would have told me
:19:42. > :19:48.get food and pay the bills. does it make you feel? Can't, you
:19:48. > :19:52.put the trust in the company and if they are quite well known and the
:19:52. > :19:57.internet and they have got a big name, then, yes, you're
:19:57. > :20:01.disappointed and tricks, really. discovered that both companies,
:20:01. > :20:06.Skyphones Europe and Fonecraze have the same London address and
:20:06. > :20:11.telephone number. We got in touch with them but had no response.
:20:11. > :20:16.Chains and Carlene are no closer to getting their payments. -- James.
:20:16. > :20:20.What can you do to stop falling into the same trap? Kier McConomy
:20:20. > :20:27.runs a comparison website, sellmymobile.com, and he is giving
:20:27. > :20:30.us advice. How can you make sure a company is legitimate? If when you
:20:30. > :20:35.sell your mobile phone, a one company is paying a lot more than
:20:35. > :20:40.the other company, then I would be very wary. Is there any chance of
:20:41. > :20:44.me getting my cash? Unfortunately, I think it is very unlikely. I do
:20:44. > :20:50.not know why these companies are still trading, the website should
:20:50. > :20:54.be shut down. How do I avoid the same thing happening again? I would
:20:54. > :20:57.use a price comparison website been selling mobile phones. These work
:20:57. > :21:05.very hard to endure the companies they deal with a reputable
:21:05. > :21:11.companies and state tends to give star ratings to companies to show
:21:11. > :21:14.what has the best customer feedback. -- they tend to give. If you want
:21:14. > :21:17.to turn your phone into cash use a reputable company and have a look
:21:17. > :21:22.at our website to make sure Badger handset doesn't vanish into thin
:21:22. > :21:27.air. -- made sure that your handset doesn't vanish.
:21:27. > :21:32.Now, back to this school uniform sale, and recycling the uniforms is
:21:32. > :21:41.growing in popularity. This is working for you. Absolutely. It is
:21:41. > :21:46.a cracking scheme. I have one daughter, and we get items between
:21:46. > :21:52.25 and 50p, and it is a great saving, really. What about the
:21:52. > :21:57.condition? Fantastic condition. Newer brand new. They take them
:21:57. > :22:04.away, I do not know what they do them -- to do them, but they come
:22:04. > :22:11.back like new. I have been doing this since last year. You can save
:22:11. > :22:14.up to �50 a year. How does this scheme work for you? I have three
:22:14. > :22:19.children and I can buy their uniforms for less than �5, were is
:22:20. > :22:25.normally it could cost up to �60, so some great savings. Thank you.
:22:25. > :22:30.Next, Chinese lanterns are becoming popular at weddings and parties,
:22:30. > :22:34.but Lucy has done to Wrexham to see why some people want them banned. -
:22:34. > :22:38.- gone to Wrexham. They can be beautiful and are of
:22:38. > :22:42.spiritual significance to some people. They create amazing
:22:42. > :22:46.displays in the night sky and influence advertising campaigns,
:22:46. > :22:52.even. Paper lanterns like these are very cheap and can cost less than
:22:52. > :22:56.�1 each and create a spectacular display. It is no surprise that
:22:56. > :23:03.people use them to mark occasions across the country. They are easy
:23:03. > :23:08.to get hold of, on the internet and at some high street shops. How do
:23:08. > :23:13.they work? They had very simple to use. He simply liked this the fuel
:23:13. > :23:21.area at the bottom and wait for it to warn the air inside the land to
:23:21. > :23:26.run which inflates it and lifts it. -- inside the paper lantern. They
:23:26. > :23:30.have the potential to cause serious injuries. At a party last year,
:23:30. > :23:37.three-year-old Cael Jones from Wrexham was injured by one of these
:23:37. > :23:41.lanterns. His mother once more advice on how to use them. I would
:23:41. > :23:45.like the safety regulations to be higher on them and better
:23:45. > :23:51.instructions so that everybody knows how dangerous they can be.
:23:51. > :23:56.She is not the only one that is worried. Anne Wrench arms catalogue
:23:56. > :24:00.in Flintshire and last year, she found at least 20 of these burnt
:24:00. > :24:04.out lanterns on her land and showed us where they were found. As their
:24:04. > :24:09.popularity grows, she is concerned about the effect on her land and on
:24:09. > :24:14.the livestock. It started last year when I was looking at the kitchen
:24:14. > :24:18.window and dies all these white bags that appeared in front of
:24:18. > :24:22.house. There were six of them. When my husband went out, there were six
:24:22. > :24:29.in the field on that one day and they were Chinese lanterns. We had
:24:29. > :24:34.never heard of them before. Since then, we regularly find them all
:24:34. > :24:39.over the fields in the hedgerows. Why are be such a problem for you?
:24:39. > :24:45.We are walking through a barley field right now, so there is a fire
:24:45. > :24:49.risk. These fields, there are acres and acres of cereals, wheat, barley,
:24:49. > :24:56.and if the lanterns burn out into the field, we could lose all of the
:24:56. > :25:01.crop. We could lose it in one night. That is an enormous loss to us.
:25:01. > :25:06.is not just the risk of fire that is worrying. Stray pieces of bamboo
:25:06. > :25:10.and wire left in the fields could cause a big problem at harvest time.
:25:10. > :25:15.The remains of the lanterns get chopped up by the machinery and go
:25:15. > :25:18.into the silos for the winter feed, and at winter time, we do not
:25:18. > :25:23.realise it is there, and when we see to the livestock, they can't
:25:23. > :25:29.eat it, and it could cut up their insides, like glass does, and it
:25:29. > :25:33.could kill the animals. Her fears are justified. John has experienced
:25:33. > :25:39.their dangers first hand. One of his animals in Port Talbot died
:25:40. > :25:44.last year after one of these luncheons fell into his field.
:25:44. > :25:48.is not moving, standing by herself, I went to get the vets to have a
:25:48. > :25:53.look, and said that it is likely there is a wire in her gut. We hope
:25:53. > :25:58.she would stay alive long enough to give birth, but unfortunately,
:25:58. > :26:08.three weeks before her calf was born, she died. So we lost the cow
:26:08. > :26:15.and the calf. It was an expensive loss. The animals were worth �2,000.
:26:15. > :26:21.Devastating to lose an animal. Things like this could be prevented.
:26:21. > :26:26.Some manufacturers now claim that their lanterns are biodegradable.
:26:26. > :26:30.We can see on the instructions here, it says they are made from
:26:30. > :26:34.biodegradable materials, it means they decompose in a short space of
:26:34. > :26:38.time. What you think about that? Let's have a look at it. It has
:26:38. > :26:43.still got the wire like you did before, the bamboo appears to have
:26:43. > :26:49.been changed. This, Timmy, would take years and years to decompose,
:26:49. > :26:54.and it only takes a couple of days to kill an animal. Emergency
:26:54. > :26:58.services are worried as well. The recent dry spell lead to an
:26:58. > :27:02.increase in fires across the country with fire crews called out
:27:02. > :27:09.to huge blazes. North Wales Fire and Rescue Service say they have
:27:09. > :27:12.had 11 incidents connected to the Chinese lanterns since 2008. The,
:27:12. > :27:17.the message we're trying to give... Andy Robb wants people to be aware
:27:18. > :27:23.of the risks. When these lanterns are released, they are on controls,
:27:23. > :27:27.you do not know where they can go. -- they are not controlled. Begin
:27:27. > :27:32.caused extensive fires that tie up a lot of resources in the fire
:27:32. > :27:36.service. There are some services that hour concerned about the
:27:36. > :27:44.release of these Chinese lanterns, particularly on the coast where
:27:44. > :27:48.they can be confused with distress there has -- flowers. Because card
:27:49. > :27:55.service has -- the Coast Guard has recorded call-outs totalling
:27:55. > :28:03.�10,000. Eight months since his accident, Cael Jones has recovered
:28:03. > :28:07.from his accident. There is a call for banning these lanterns. Many
:28:07. > :28:12.countries have banned them, we should have them banned here.
:28:12. > :28:15.Ideally, we would say, do not use them. If you release them, take
:28:15. > :28:18.great care with them. That is all we have time for this
:28:18. > :28:22.evening, if there is anything you would like us to investigate,