Sunbeds and tanning lamps may be causing thousands of cases of skin cancer every year, scientists say, according to The Times.

Research in the USA is reported to have shown that people who have used artificial tanning devices are up to 2.5 times more likely to develop certain kinds of skin cancer than those who have never visited a tanning salon. The risks are thought to be greatest in the young, with the chances of developing a tumour increasing by up to 20 per cent for each decade of sunbed use before the age of 50.

In the study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, a team led by Dr Margaret Karagas at Dartmouth Medical School in New Hampshire, interviewed more than 1,500 people aged between 25 and 74, more than half of whom had skin cancer.