Council urges sunbed law change

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A council has called for a change in the law on unsupervised sunbeds after removing them from its leisure centres.

The British Medical Association (BMA) had accused the Vale of Glamorgan council of putting profit ahead of its "duty of care" to the public.

The council has decided to remove five sunbeds from four leisure centres but also called on the assembly government to consider controls on tanning salons.

It said it had "real concerns" over access to undersupervised salons.

BMA Wales said it was pleased the council had recognised the "serious health risks".

The council had been criticised for delaying a decision over the the future of sunbeds in their leisure centres after a council committee recommended in May that the authority remove them.

On Wednesday, the cabinet announced it would go ahead with the removal of them.

A spokeswoman said: "Action to remove the beds will begin in the near future."

Leisure centres should be places of health, recreation and well-being Dr Richard Lewis, BMA Wales

BMA Wales secretary Richard Lewis said they were "delighted".

"Not only is it important in promoting local public health and well-being, it also helps to spread the message about the dangers of sunbeds and UV exposure," he said.

"Leisure centres should be places of health, recreation and well-being, not places which provide facilities that are so damaging to a persons health.

"Just one session a month will double the average individual's annual dose of UV radiation and this is proved to greatly increase the risk of cancer, skin and eye problems in later life."

The council has two sunbeds at Penarth Leisure Centre and one each at Barry, Llantwit Major and Cowbridge.

Council leader Gordon Kemp said: "Research shows sunbeds are dangerous and cause skin cancer.

"I'm pleased we will no longer offer sunbed facilities but we are concerned (they) are open to the public across Wales and will be asking the Welsh Assembly Government to legislate against their provision."

He added: "Just six months ago a 14-year-old girl was badly burnt at an unmanned tanning salon, just yards from the civic offices here in Barry.

"We have real concerns that customers who used our supervised facilities will take their custom elsewhere and may be tempted to visit one of the many unsupervised tanning salons that are available in south Wales."

Inquiry

In June, members of the Welsh assembly called for evidence on whether more controls were needed on tanning salons in Wales.

An inquiry is examining whether the industry needs tighter regulation following a number of high profile cases involving children being burned.

Kelly Thompson, 10, from Port Talbot, had to be treated at a burns unit in Swansea in April after spending 16 minutes on an unsupervised, coin-operated sunbed.

Kirsty McRae, 14, from Barry, suffered burns to 70% of her body in February.

She spent 20 minutes under the lamps of a coin-operated sunbed while the salon was unstaffed.