Inside UK’s tanning capital where sunbed shops flog 50p a minute sessions to locals amid surge in deadly skin cancer

STRETCHED out beneath the UV lamps in her favourite booth at her local tanning salon, mum Aimee Kirkham soaks up the only 15 minutes of peace and quiet she'll get that day.

For Aimee, 31, going on sunbeds is a vital part of her day and despite regular use of UV lamps increasing the risk of , the deadliest form of skin cancer, by 20 per cent, she thinks looking and feeling good far outweighs the dangers.

She has three kids aged 13, 11 and eight and lives in Blackpool, dubbed the ‘Lancashire Riviera’, where a trip to a tanning salon has become as much a part of life as donkey rides and a stick of rock.

The town has the highest number of sunbed shops per capita than anywhere else in the country with an astonishing 51 tanning salons lining the streets.

That’s a staggering 249 per cent above the national average, according to a new survey by beauty and wellness hub Fresha.

Made famous by its tower and ballroom, the town has 34.2 tanning salons per 100,000 residents compared to 9.8 nationwide.

Tanning beds are particularly dangerous because they mainly produce UVA radiation which penetrates the skin on a deeper level than UVB (sunlight contains both).

Around six people die of melanoma every day in the UK and according to Cancer Research UK, rates have increased by 32 per cent in the past ten years.

Blackpool has a higher recorded prevalence of cancer, including skin cancer, compared to the national average, with a rate of 4.4 per cent in 2023/24, significantly higher than the national rate of 3.6 per cent.

Yet Starr Gate Tanning, run by former IT worker Craig Allen which lies just a two-minute walk from Blackpool south beach, is doing a roaring trade offering sessions for just over 50p a minute. [A 60-minute package costs £34.99]

Aimee, is the first through the doors at 10am.

She spends up to £35 a week of her hard-earned cash there, having three to four 15-minute sessions but says: “I don't really stop to think about how much time I spend on the beds or how much it costs, I really value my time in the salon.

“It separates me from my working day before I get home to my partner and kids.”;

Meanwhile, the startling numbers speak for themselves – using sunbeds before the age of 35 increases your chance of developing melanoma by 59 per cent, according to Cancer Research UK.

But Aimee, a care worker and cleaner insists: “I know that people say it's bad for you, but that honestly doesn't trouble me, in fact I can say for certain that it's been good for me. I love being tanned, it’s good for my mental health.

“I try to protect myself against the harm caused by the UV rays by using a good SPF cream on my face and by not overdoing it.”;

Salon owner Craig, 54, opened Starr Gate Tanning in February 2023 after leaving his previous job in IT for a multinational company.

“We get a real mix of customers, a lot of men are among our regulars,” he said. “We do get young women in their twenties coming to us but the biggest group are thirties and above.

“The only reason I can think of that Blackpool has so many tanning shops is that we can go quite a while without seeing the sun here. And as they're quite spread out so we don't feel a big element of competition.”

The town is also one of the most deprived in the country, coming consistently near the top in the English Indices of Deprivation for the last decade.

Aimee added: “Life can get tough for people, so if they need cheering up it's no surprise.”

The most recent data from charity Melanoma Focus reveals 28 per cent of UK adults admit to using sunbeds, with this figure rising to 43 per cent among 18 to 25-year-olds.

Flying Eze’s campaign has shone a light on the terrifying consequences of using sunbeds and has received the support of Girls Aloud star Nicola Roberts and TOWIE’s Georgia Kousoulou.

But Craig insists his Blackpool salon is ‘safe’, and suggests that using sunbeds could actually be ‘good for you’.

“All our tubes here meet the European Standard and we're obviously very careful that no-one under 18 is able to use our beds,”; he explained.

“I'm convinced that, used in moderation, sunbeds can be good for you, especially where mental health is concerned. There was a study last year that said sunbeds could actually be beneficial in places with gloomier weather where the people don't get as much natural UV.”

The Edinburgh University study Craig refers to was funded by Health Data Research UK and published in the journal Health and Place.

It found that whilst sunbed use was linked to a 23 per cent lower risk of death from cardiovascular disease and a 14 per cent lower risk of death from cancer, those with a higher estimated UV exposure had an increased risk of being diagnosed with melanoma.

Former sunbed user Caroline Madden, 58, knows all too well the damaging consequences after she spent 15 years battling two bouts of deadly skin cancer and had to undergo “horrendous”; treatment.

The single mum-of-two was diagnosed with a stage three malignant melanoma in 2009 on her ankle and nine years later the disease was detected in her pelvis.

She’d spent her teens and twenties using sunbeds.

Caroline says: “Everyone who smokes thinks they’re going to be the one who doesn’t get lung cancer, and it’s the same with any sort of sunburn or sunbed use.

“The big thing about malignant melanomas is that people don’t take them seriously.

“You get the same thing all the time – ‘It’s only skin cancer, it’ll be fine, it will just be cut out’.

“Nowadays you have amazing false tans…'Why are you going on a sunbed?'”

The PA from Welton, East Yorks, started using sunbeds at around 17, and she says she was unaware of the potential damage.

She recalls: “Everyone I knew used sunbeds back then. I think they were in the local gym.

“No one was worried, my older sister used them too.

“It was ‘normal' to use them and no one knew or associated the true danger of sunbeds.

“I maybe went once a month for a few years – dozens of times.”;

Caroline said her chiropodist first spotted a suspicious mole at the base of her leg and urged her to get it checked out by a GP.

She says: “I had an appointment at a very general clinic at the local hospital. I went in and waited my turn, and then they said, ‘You’re not leaving.'

“They cut it out and sent that off to be tested. It was already a stage three malignant melanoma. Then the slippery slope started with surgery and treatments.”;

Doctors later advised Caroline to have her lymphatic system removed from the waist down to avoid the cancer spreading.

But in February 2018, cancer cells were detected in her pelvis and her groin.

She was given immunotherapy which aimed to stop virulent forms of cancer in their tracks.

Caroline adds: “That was horrendous. I had it for 18 months, and my body just constantly rejected it and couldn’t cope with it.

no one should be risking their lives for a tan, or bow to pressure to look bronzed.

Dr Tim Woodman

“I had steroids to counter the other side effects. Coming off it, I had steroid withdrawal.”;

Now, Caroline has ‘no evidence’ of cancer in her body but fears what could happen in future:

“You just have to hope it doesn’t hit a major organ, as you’re then stage four, but there’s no way of knowing if or when that might happen,”; she says.

“So you just watch and wait – and keep your fingers crossed.”;

Meanwhile, Dr Tim Woodman, Medical Director for Cancer Services, at Bupa UK Insurance, urges sunbed users to think seriously before using them.

He says no one should be risking their lives for a tan, or bow to pressure to look bronzed.

“Sunbeds and tan enhancers may seem appealing, but they’re very dangerous,”; he said.

“Tanning, either outside or on a sunbed, actually means that your skin is damaged. This risk of damage can become deadly at any time and increases by 75 per cent in first-time sunbed users under the age of 35.

“With increased exposure to social platforms, many younger people may feel pressured to follow trends, regardless of how fair their skin may naturally be.”;

However, Rebecca Ganchi, 51, a DevOps engineer with a Government department thinks sunbeds give her a ‘base tan’, which actually prevents sunburn.

She said: “I'm going to Sri Lanka with my husband for a fortnight soon and I like to have a little bit of a tan before I set off, it just means I don't end up bright red by the pool.

“I wear SPF when I'm on the beds and I don't overdo them.

“My mum died of a rare form of cancer four years ago, so I know how devastating it can be so I keep an eye for any signs of a problem with my skin.”