A 10-year-old girl has suffered burns over 70% of her body after spending 16 minutes on an unsupervised sun bed.

Kelly Thompson had to be treated overnight at a burns unit in Swansea and her mother wants an investigation.

"The doctors told me if she had stayed on the bed two minutes longer, she may have needed skin grafts," her mother Sharon Hannaford, of Port Talbot, said.

A spokesperson for the Electrik Avenue tanning centre said they were due to meet council health officials.

The incident happened over the Easter holidays and Ms Hannaford has called for the salon to be closed down.



Kelly paid £8 to use the sunbed at the salon
She said she had given Kelly money for a visit to the fair with an older cousin.

"When they got there the funfair was closed so they went into town and decided to use the tanning centre.

"Kelly put £8 into the machine which gave her 16 minutes on the sun bed.

"She was under-age but there was no staff there to stop her from using it.

"And there was no-one to give advice on using these potentially dangerous machines."

"She had burns over 70% of her body and was off school for a week."

A sign on the door at the Electrik Avenue tanning centre reads: "Strictly over 16s only."

Neath Port Talbot council confirmed it was investigating the incident.

The case emerged as the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) changed its advice for operators of sun beds in Wales and England.



The tanning salon said it would meet council officials on Friday
It recommended that people under 18 should not use sun beds, and that all coin-operated salons should be supervised by trained staff.

The HSE said the new guidance would bring it into line with the latest World Health Organisation advice.

Giles Denham, the policy director at the HSE, said: "We understand that some people may want to use sun beds. Our guidance is designed to ensure they have the information to minimise the associated risks.

"That's why we recommend that owners ensure their salons are staffed all the time, even if they are coin-operated, and that UV tanning equipment is not used by people under 18."

Bill Dickson, director of the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery at Morriston Hospital, where Kelly was treated, said burns from overusing sun beds could be a danger.

"One of the worries is the exposure to ultra-violet rays and the links to developing malignant melanoma. Cases of malignant melanoma have shown to be increasing in younger people," he said.

"The majority of burns we see from sun beds are superficial but can be very painful. It might be that we would need to treat the skin with dressings but there could be a very real danger of long-term scarring depending on the extent of the burn."