Moore said the next steps after the vote would include contacting local businesses to ask them to discontinue offering the products, as well as putting posters on beaches to educate tourists.

She said she hoped the Cornish ban would put pressure on the government to introduce nationwide measures.

An online petition to ban the rings, launched in May, has gathered more than 42,000 signatures.

Sue Sayer MBE, Seal Research Trust founder, said Cornwall Council had “always been pioneers for the environment because our seascapes are Cornwall’s greatest asset”.

She said safer alternatives, such as wildlife-safe solid disc toys, were available, adding: “We are not spoiling people’s fun or taking away trade from retailers, quite the opposite.”

A spokesperson from the Cornish Seal Sanctuary said it “strongly supported” the voluntary ban.

They said: “Over the years, our animal care team has witnessed first-hand the devastating consequences these toys can have on seals.

“Despite our efforts to treat and rehabilitate injured seals, prevention is always better than cure.”