VALE of Glamorgan Council has decided to support a ban on a popular type of frisbee in a bid to protect marine wildlife.

Swansea Council announced in October 2024 that it would support schools and businesses to introduce a ban of 'flying ring' frisbees on beaches and now Vale Council is set to follow suit.

A motion, put forward by the Labour group at the local authority at a full council meeting on Monday (28 April), called for a voluntary ban on the sale and use of the ring shaped frisbee across the county.

One of the Labour councillors who proposed the motion, Cllr Carys Stallard, said: "It [the toy] is so cheap to buy at the shops along our coast that they are often deemed disposable after a day on the beach and end up washed out to sea."

A number of wildlife groups across the UK have called for a ban on the sale and use of flying ring frisbees for years, with images showing plastic rings stuck around the necks of seals widely shared online.

The motion put before councillors this week noted that some shops in the Vale as well as some chain stores have already decided to stop selling the plastic toy.

Cllr Stallard said volunteers, like those at the Gower Seal Group, are able to save some seals who have plastic rings stuck around their necks, but added it can cost thousands of pounds to restore the animals to full health.

She went on to say: "The answer is very simple. We can ask… visitors to our rivers and beaches to simply refrain from buying these toys and instead to buy the old fashioned solid frisbees."

The motion, which was eventually voted through with an amendment by the Plaid Cymru group, means Vale of Glamorgan Council will promote a voluntary ban on the sale of flying ring frisbees and encourage shops to sell alternatives.

It will also write to the Welsh and UK governments in support of the ban and promote the campaign through its media channels.

Labour's Cllr Emma Goodjohn, seconding the motion, said: "Plastic pollution is a big problem in our seas and this particular piece of plastic is known to kill marine mammals."

She later added: "Supporting this motion will hopefully bring about change in the public conciousness, making us all think twice about the plastic things we buy, benefiting future generations as well as our own."

Plaid Cymru's amendment called for the option of a task and finish group to be set up in order for the council to look at what powers it has in using by-laws to effectively promote the aims of the motion.

Plaid Cymru councillor at Vale of Glamorgan Council, Cllr Steffan Wiliam, said the motion could be a starting point for tackling the problem litter on beaches.

Cllr Wiliam said: "Glass and other discarded materials are a huge problem as well as these flying rings and we have to address this.

"A dialogue with traders can lead to getting some alternative suggestions from them that we perhaps haven't thought about before that could be useful and beneficial to everybody.

"We should investigate the feasibility as well of distributing bags to people to collect their waste as they come to our beaches."

Similar frisbee bans have been supported by other UK councils, including King's Lynn and West Norfolk Council and Tiverton Town Council in Devon.

One group called the Cornish Seal Sanctuary said it and a number of other groups have seen many casualties due to the issue of flying ring frisbees.

Their website states that young seals will explore the plastic toy if it has been discarded in the sea, leading to the animal becoming entangled in it.

With the rings stuck over the heads of the seals, they can suffer "terrible injuries" later on as they grow.

The group added that unless the animals are rescued, their entanglement usually leads to their premature death.