Rates of the most serious skin cancer in the UK have increased by more than five times in the last 40 years ago, according to figures published yesterday.
Some 13,000 people now develop malignant melanoma each year compared with about 1,800 in 1975.
Experts blamed the increase on the development of package holidays to Europe in the last 1960s – together with the fashion for tanning.
Cancer Research UK said treatment and detection had improved – leading to 80% of people surviving the disease.
Nick Ormiston-Smith, of Cancer Research UK, said: “Holidays in hot climates have become more affordable and sun-beds are more widely available since the 1970s. But we know over-exposure to ultraviolet rays from the sun or sun-beds is the main cause of skin cancer.
"This means, in many cases, the disease can be prevented, and is why it’s essential to get into good sun safety habits, whether at home or abroad.”
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