Kirsty McRae suffered first degree burns after using an unmanned tanning salon PA

SUNBED usage is on a par with the dangers of smoking and asbestos exposure after experts warned there is no doubt it will raise the risk of cancer.

Previously, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) assessed sunbeds and sunlamps as "probably carcinogenic to humans", meaning they tended to be linked to cancer.

But it now says their use is definitively "carcinogenic to humans".

The report also found tanning machines can increase the risk of skin tumours by 75 per cent, which is expected to lead to a government review of industry laws.

Campaigners believe the recommendation, announced in medical journal Lancet Oncology, will increase pressure for tighter industry regulation.

A Department of Health spokesman said the government may look at new laws to exercise tighter control of the use of the machines.

He said: "Sunbeds can be dangerous - we must ensure that people who use them do so safely. If necessary we will look at new laws to protect young people.

"We commissioned a report from the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment to give us a better understanding of the issues around sunbeds. This report was published in June and we are considering the recommendations in full."

The IARC research found the risk of sunbeds was greatest to children and young adults.

A report said: "The risk of skin melanoma is increased by 75 per cent when use of tanning devices starts before 30 years of age.

"Additionally, several case-control studies provide consistent evidence of a positive association between the use of ultraviolet-emitting tanning devices and ocular melanoma (eye cancer)."

But The Sunbed Association (TSA) disputed the research and said there was "no proven link" that responsible sunbed use led to skin cancer.

"TSA would dispute the IARC classification that sunbeds are 'carcinogenic to humans'," said TSA chief executive Kathy Banks.

"The fact that is continuously ignored is that there is no proven link between the responsible use of sunbeds and skin cancer.

"However, you would be forgiven for thinking otherwise, given the amount of mis-information issued by various organisations and subsequently carried by the media.

"The relationship between ultraviolet exposure and an increased risk of developing skin cancer is only likely to arise where over-exposure has taken place. This outcome would be the same whether burning takes place on a sunbed or on a beach or in a park or garden in natural sunlight."

She added: "At the moment, it is not clear to us what this re-classification means. IARC is an expert committee that makes recommendations to the World Health Organisation. We will be following this matter up with them for more information."

Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said it was "high time" that the tanning industry was regulated.

"We know that ultraviolet radiation causes skin cancer, and sunbeds create a tan by emitting UVR, so we welcome the recognition that sunbeds are carcinogenic," she said.

"It is high time that steps were taken to regulate the industry, to prevent children using sunbeds and to ensure that sunbeds are subject to health warnings like other known carcinogens."

The research was produced by Dr Fatiha El Ghissassi and staff at the IARC.

More than 2,600 people die from skin cancer each year in the UK, Cancer Research UK said.

Most skin cancer deaths - more than 2,000 a year - are from malignant melanoma, with the majority of non-melanoma skin cancer deaths in elderly people.