City threatens to shut suntan salons in bid to combat cancer

Tanning salons in Liverpool have been threatened with closure in a move prompted by fears of a skin cancer epidemic in the city.

Tanning salons in Liverpool have been threatened with closure in a move prompted by fears of a skin cancer epidemic in the city.

The city council says it will prosecute and close salons which flout guidelines. The law does not ban children aged under 16 from using sunbeds, but government guidelines advise against it.

The rate of skin cancer in the city has doubled during the past 10 years with about a hundred new cases of melanoma - the most serious skin cancer - diagnosed every year.

Dr Niall Wilson, a Liverpool consultant dermatologist, said he often saw girls who used sunbeds from the age of 14 and had three or four sessions every week. "In addition to skin cancer they [put] themselves at risk of premature ageing of the skin and damage to the eyes which may lead to cataracts in later life," he said.