Bill to stop under 18s using sunbeds passed by the House of Lords

Sunbed ban for under 18s to become law

The private member's bill to protect children and teenagers from the dangers of sunbeds was passed today by the House of Lords after Cancer Research UK's campaign.

Aisling Burnand, executive director of policy and public affairs at Cancer Research UK, said: "We're thrilled that the bill to stop under 18s using sunbeds has passed through the House of Lords and will become law a year today. This is a monumental achievement and legislation will go a long way to curb the alarming numbers of teenagers that use sunbeds.

"Research recently published in the British Medical Journal found that a quarter of a million children in England between the ages of 11 and 17 regularly use sunbeds. Cancer Research UK looks forward to working with the next government to ensure all salons are properly staffed and all adults are given appropriate information warning them of potential dangers to their long term health.

"Sunbeds are classified at the same carcinogenic level as tobacco, with the intensity of some UV rays from sunbeds being up to 10-15 times higher than that of the midday sun. Younger people are particularly at risk and sunbed users under the age of 35 have a 75 per cent higher risk of developing malignant melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer.

"We'd like to thank Julie Morgan MP for Cardiff North, Sian James MP for Swansea East and Nicola Robert from Girls Aloud for all their efforts to make this bill law."