Crackdown on danger sunbeds.

Byline: JOHN von RADOWITZ

A CRACKDOWN on sunbeds to protect children could be ordered after a hard-hitting report by experts advising the Government.

Members of a radiation watchdog called yesterday for all sunbed operators to be legally registered, licensed and inspected by local authorities.

They also stressed the need to safeguard children and teenagers, urging a total ban on unsupervised or coin-operated sunbeds, a legal lower age limit of 18 on anyone using a tanning salon, and the sale or hire of tanning equipment to under-18s to be outlawed.

Public Health Minister Gillian Merron hinted that the Government might be prepared to act to prevent children being put at risk.

She said: "Sunbeds can be dangerous. We must ensure that people who use them do so safely. If necessary we will look at new laws to protect young people."

The report from the Com-mitteon Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (Comare) follows two highly publicised cases of children who were seriously injured by coin-operated sunbeds.

Last month it was reported that 10-year-old Kelly Thompson suffered 70% burns to her body after spending pounds 8 on a 16-minute session at a coin-operated tanning centre in Port Talbot, South Wales.

She ended up staying overnight in a hospital burns unit. Her mother, Sharon Hannaford, called for coin-operated sunbeds to be shut down.

Another Welsh schoolgirl, Kirsty McRae, 14, suffered similar injuries in February after paying pounds 4 for 19 minutes of tanning at a coin-operated centre. She was also treated for 70% burns and placed on a drip and given oxygen in hospital.

Her mother Jill, from Barry Island, Vale of Glamorgan, said unstaffed sunbed salons posed "an enormous risk".

As well as burning, radiation from sunbeds is known to damage DNA, leading to premature ageing and an increased chance of developing skin cancer.

Without accurate records the harm caused by sunbeds is difficult to gauge. But a rough estimate suggests that each year the machines cause 370 cases of malignant skin cancer and 100 deaths in the UK.

Comare said the true number of cancer casualties was likely to be higher because these figures were based on 2004 data.

CAPTION(S):

Kirsty McRae's burns Kirsty McRae (left), 19, from Barry, with mother Jill McRae. The teenager suffered burns after using an unmanned tanning salon.