TANNING salons in York have been warned after a sting operation found three businesses prepared to sell sunbed sessions to underage customers.

The “mystery shopper” test was carried out by City of York Council following the introduction of new laws designed to punish firms allowing under-18s to use their machines, with fines of up to £20,000 if they breach the rules.

Environmental health and trading standards officials enlisted a 14-year-old volunteer to visit 11 sunbed premises around the city, and found three – almost a third of those tested – offered the teenager a tanning session.

The businesses which failed the test will not face further action on this occasion, as the council said the aim of the operation was to warn local salons and assess whether the legislation was being obeyed. But it said the same approach would not be applied if firms were found to be ignoring the laws in future.

Since April last year, the Sunbeds (Regulation) Act has required businesses to prevent anybody under 18 using the beds so they are protected from the risks posed by exposure to ultraviolet light, which can play a part in causing skin cancer.

Allowing under-18s to buy sunbed sessions, or offering them the chance to do so, means the business is committing a crime regardless of whether they intended to. If convicted, the owners face a hefty fine.

Coun Dafydd Williams, the council’s cabinet member for crime and stronger communities, said he was disappointed 27 per cent of premises tested contravened the legislation and said formal enforcement action would be taken in future if necessary.

He said: “I hope these test purchases will raise awareness of this legislation, and I urge businesses to operate an age-verification policy.”

The potential dangers of sunbeds were highlighted in The Press last year by the family of York mother Jo Grassby, who regularly used them in her teens and died from skin cancer aged 38, having worked to raise awareness of the issue following her diagnosis.