Sunbeds kill two a week

Sunbeds cause up to 200 deaths a year in Britain, researchers said yesterday.

As many as four people die each week from melanoma, the worst type of skin cancer, as a result of using tanning lamps.

About 65,000 in the UK are diagnosed with skin cancer each year, with 2,000 dying from the disease - including 1,600 from melanoma. To estimate the number caused by sunbeds, Professor Brian Diffey studied the amount of time Britons sunbathe each year, the time we spend on sunbeds and the number of deaths from melanoma.

The results, published in the British Journal of Dermatology, showed that sunbeds could be responsible for anywhere between 50 and 200, with 100 the most likely figure. At least three million Britons, mainly young women, use sunbeds.

Professor Diffey, of Newcastle General Hospital's medical physics department, said: 'Sunbeds should be discouraged, but prohibition is not warranted, as exposure to the sun - which cannot be regulated - remains the major factor behind the risk of melanoma.'