Shoppers were given a shocking glimpse of the real damage caused by sun and sunbeds as part of a skin cancer campaign.
A hi-tech UV photo booth was set up at the White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds to reveal the impact of the rays.
Cancer Research UK brought its R UV UGLY campaign to the city because it has one of the highest concentrations of sunbed salons in the country.
There are around 84 shops, equalling 11 salons per 100,000 people, putting the city within the top quarter of councils in England.
Rates of malignant melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, have increased by 89 per cent amongst 15 to 34-year-olds in Yorkshire in the last 20 years.
Numbers are significantly higher than the England average.
Caroline Cerny, senior health campaigns manager at Cancer Research UK, said: “We hope that by giving the city’s youngsters a sneak preview of what using sunbeds is doing to their looks, we can convince them that a sunbed tan is not the answer to fending off the winter gloom.
“As well as increasing the risk of skin cancer, sunbeds could leave them with wrinkles, leathery skin and age spots.”
The free scans, also available from February 20, showed shoppers a close-up of the damage – and had a dramatic impact.
Karene Ambler, from Holt Park, Leeds, was treated for ovarian cancer as a teenager and has been a regular sunbed user.
The 46-year-old said: “When I saw my picture and got the results it was worse than I thought. I could see there was damage round my mouth where a few wrinkles are already starting and I was told this could turn quite leathery in a few years. “I am definitely going to stop using sunbeds now.”
Beth Brennan, 18, of Pudsey, said: “I’m fair skinned and freckly and was told that my skin type meant I was at a higher risk of skin cancer anyway, even without using sunbeds.
“After the advice I’ve been given, I am not going to start using them now.”
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