A cross-party group of AMs are urging the Assembly Government to ban the use of unsupervised coin-operated sunbeds in tanning salons, including banning under-18s from using sun beds and insisting all operators of such salons to obtain consent in writing from customers, before permitting them to use the machines.

Unsupervised sun beds can be dangerous as illustrated by the fact that after a 16-minute tanning session, 10-year-old Kelly Thompson from Port Talbot suffered burns over 70% of her body.

The report also calls for making protective eyewear compulsory; including potential health risk information be displayed and provided to all users, as also banning the display of unproven health benefits related to the use of sun-beds.

The stringent demands come following a three-month inquiry, with the report asking the Assembly Government to seek power that will permit it to regulate, licence and impose sanctions on sun bed operators in Wales.

Even though there is sufficient evidence suggesting sun-beds can cause skin cancer, tanning salons have managed to escape effective regulation. Self-regulation within the industry has failed to prevent some of the horror stories of sun-tanning salons.

While, a legislation is already in place in Scotland that bans under-18s from using sun-beds, England is also expected to follow its example.

The investigating committee in its conclusion writes, there is good evidence suggesting use of sun-beds causes skin cancer; with no wholly safe dosage available putting children and young people particularly at risk; including current laws failing to provide sufficient safeguards against misuse by children and younger people.