January 13, 201016 yr Under-18s facing sunbed ban 'in months' over skin cancer fears By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 1:40 AM on 13th January 2010 Comments (22) Videos Add to My Stories Sunbeds could be banned within months for under-18s. After a lengthy period of dithering, Health Secretary Andy Burnham will back tough measures to protect 'tanorexic' teenagers. Unstaffed, coin-operated tanning booths, which are used by children as young as 11, would also be outlawed. Damage: The World Health Organisation has classified that sunbeds are as carcinogenic as smoking, asbestos and arsenic The move follows a sharp rise in skin cancer deaths among young women using sunbeds. A ban has already come into force in Scotland. Wales has announced it will follow suit. But the Department of Health failed to act even after the World Health Organisation in the summer reclassified sunbeds as being as carcinogenic as cigarettes, arsenic and asbestos. Schoolgirl Kirsty McRae pictured before she used a sunbed in James Hadley's unmanned tanning salon which gave her severe burns Instead of bringing forward legislation to ban sunbeds for under-18s himself, Mr Burnham will merely back a Bill laid down tomorrow by one of his party's backbenchers. If the Bill from Julie Morgan, MP for Cardiff North, is passed before the General Election, the ban could come into force within months. Sunbed horror: Kirsty McRae suffered 70 per cent burns after using Hadley's unmanned salon Norman Lamb, Liberal Democrat health spokesman, said: 'The Government could have acted ages ago but they have failed to. We are now overdue for action.' There have been a number of cases where teenagers have become burned after using tanning booths. Scroll down for MailOnline's video report... Hospitalised: Kirsty was given oxygen, painkillers and put on a drip to treat her sunbed injuries Last year, a judge called for measures to stop the 'reckless' use of sunbeds after 14-year-old Kirsty McRae suffered 70 per cent burns after using a sunbed in an unmanned salon. She put £1 into the coin-operated sunbed at the walk-in Lextan salon in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, owned by James Hadley, 25. After four minutes the schoolgirl paid an extra £3 for 15 more minutes because she felt she wasn't tanned enough. Magistrates heard the teenager was rushed to hospital four hours later suffering from horrific burns and was put on a drip. Hadley was prosecuted under health and safety laws with the judge branding the operation of an unmanned salon 'reckless'. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242701/Under-18s-facing-sunbed-ban-months-skin-cancer-fears.html#ixzz0cW9Nu4iA
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