Wiltshire Council has become the latest UK local authority to remove sunbeds from public leisure centres, following recent research by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).

A report by the IARC, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) agency for research into cancer, has established a "clear link" between sunbeds and skin cancer, which has increased pressure on councils to withdraw sunbeds for health reasons. Sunbeds at Pewsey Sports Centre; Bradford Swimming Pool in Bradford On Avon and The Activity Zone in Malmesbury will now be withdrawn from public use, a move that has been supported by DC Leisure - operator of the Bradford and Malmesbury sites.

Stuart Wheeler, Wiltshire Council's cabinet member for leisure, sport and culture, said: "Wiltshire Council inherited the managerial responsibility for 20 leisure centres in April. Prior to this a number of the former district councils had made the decision not to provide sunbeds for health related reasons. "This new [IARC] report, which highlights again the possible danger that sunbeds can cause to health, warranted the decision to remove sunbeds from the three remaining facilities as of 1 October 2009."

Wiltshire Council's decision follows the Vale of Glamorgan Council (VGC) in South Wales, which announced on 3 September that it planned to withdraw five sunbeds from leisure centres in Barry, Penarth, Llantwit Major and Cowbridge. VGC has now called on the Welsh Assembly Government to introduce a total ban on sunbeds after a 14-year-old girl experienced severe burns as the result of using an unmanned tanning salon in Barry.

Gordon Kemp, VGC leader, said: "I am pleased that cabinet has agreed that the council will no longer offer sun bed facilities. However, we are concerned that sun bed facilities are open to the public across Wales and we will be asking the Welsh Assembly Government to legislate against their provision. "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."

While councils may not have the powers to withdraw sunbeds from private operators, Burnley Council has revealed that it is currently liaising with local private businesses to offer new guidelines about the safe use of sunbeds. It follows recent recommendations from the Health and Safety Executive that under-18s do not use sunbeds and that all coin-operated salons are supervised by trained staff. A spokesperson for Burnley Council said: "Currently, Burnley council has no statutory powers to regulate the use of privately run sunbeds. However, we are in the middle of a campaign that provides local businesses with new guidelines about safe sunbed use.

"We used to have three sunbeds at our old Thompson Centre and two at the Padiham Centre, but these were removed years ago. While we don't have any specific figures for St Peter's, there a no more sunbeds there either." While local authorities across the UK implement the withdrawal of sunbeds from public facilities, Irish health minister Mary Harney has recently told the Livestrong Global Cancer Summit in Dublin that Ireland should introduce a total ban on sunbed usage to combat the risk of cancer.

According to the Irish Examiner, Harney told delegates at the event organised by cyclist Lance Armstrong: "I would personally like to ban sunbeds for everybody. It's a no-brainer - we know the huge level of skin cancer in Ireland, we know sunbeds are dangerous and hugely contributing to people developing skin cancer."