70% BURNS AGONY OF TAN GIRL,10; Mum's 'danger salon' fury.

Byline: RICHARD SMITHS

A GIRL of 10 suffered burns over nearly three-quarters of her body in an unsupervised tanning salon.

Kelly Thompson was taken in agony to a special burns unit after spending 16 minutes on a coin-operated sunbed.

The salon had a sign warning it was for over-16s only, but Kelly's furious mum Sharron Hanaford said yesterday: "I want the salon closed down because I know other kids are going in there."

The mum-of-four added: "The doctors told me if she had stayed on the bed two minutes longer, she may have needed skin grafts. She was off school a week.

"She was underage but there were no staff there to stop her from using it.

"And there was no one to give advice on using these potentially dangerous machines." Neath Port Talbot Council have launched a probe into the Electrik Avenue salon in Port Talbot. Consumer group Which? claims 170,000 schoolkids use unregulated tanning salons.

Yesterday, the Health and Safety Executive recommended under-18s should be banned from using sunbeds and all salons should be manned.

CAPTION(S):

ANGER Kelly, mum Sharron, and burns