BRITAIN’S leading skincare charity has warned that sunscreen should be used all year round, even in cloudy weather, to protect against long-term damage that can cause cancer.

The British Skin Foundation said anyone without a very dark skin should apply factor 15 sunscreen every morning, even if they are going to spend most of the day indoors.

Dr Tamara Griffiths, a spokeswoman for the foundation and consultant dermatologist at East Cheshire NHS Trust, said that even walking between a car park and an office could cumulatively cause damage. “In this country I usually advise using sunscreen in spring, summer and autumn — indeed all four seasons if people can manage,” she said.

“Consistency is the key. Sunscreen should be used every day in all weather conditions. You should keep it by your toothbrush.”

Griffiths issued the warning after seeing patients with skin cancer who had never been abroad. Dermatologists believe damage can build up over decades of exposure to sunlight.

“I have a lot of elderly ladies as patients who have never been abroad and they have got skin cancer,” Griffiths said.

“They have got English rose complexions and they have been gardeners or walkers.”

More than 70,000 new cases of skin cancer are diagnosed every year in Britain and 1,800 people die from the disease. The incidence of melanoma, the most serious skin cancer, has doubled over the past 20 years. It is increasing more quickly than any other cancer except that of the prostate.

Other leading charities agree that sunscreen of factor 15 or above is needed in Britain but they differ about when it should be applied.

Macmillan Cancer Support advises using factor 15 from April to October before leaving the house.

Sue Bailey, a melanoma specialist nurse for Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Exposure to ultraviolet rays is cumulative over a long time and we do have a lot of people who have never left the UK and have got skin cancer.”

The Cancer Research UK SunSmart campaign issues advice only for the summer but the charity advises the public to look out for the ultraviolet (UV) index, developed by the World Health Organisation and issued by the Met Office as part of the weather forecast.

Today the UV index is five to six in England and Wales and two to four in Scotland and Northern Ireland, on a scale of one to 10. In the south of England, where the UV reading is six, people with fair skin are at a very high to medium risk, people with brown skin are at medium risk and those with black skin are at low risk.

Genevieve Frisby, manager of the SunSmart campaign, said: “The UK index is the most accurate. Sometimes people get caught out on a cloudy day. Last week the UV Index for the UK was the same as Istanbul.”

Some doctors fear the sun avoidance message is causing people to risk vitamin D deficiency. The sun is the main source of vitamin D and some scientists claim the lack of it can put people at higher risk of developing other cancers. Overall, they say more cancers are caused by a lack of vitamin D than by exposure to the sun.

Dr William Grant, a physicist, former Nasa scientist and director of the Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center in California, said: “Skin pigmentation adapts to where people have lived for a number of years and they have adapted to the UV levels.

“Several research papers now suggest that the melanoma epidemic has been caused because British people are going on summer vacation without preparing their skin before they go.

“If you are in Britain you should try to get a bit of sun every day to build up your natural protection.”

This weekend Peter Hindmarsh, professor of paediatric endocrinology at the Institute of Child Health in London, warned black and Asian people that their skins were adapted to high levels of sun and vitamin D. He said that living in Britain, using sunscreen or covering up for religious reasons, could bring them a greater risk of vitamin D deficiency. This has been linked to some cancers, diabetes, high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, and rickets in children.

There is evidence these mixed messages are causing confusion among sunbathers.

According to research by the Institute of Cancer Research and Superdrug, two-thirds of people use high-factor suncream when they holiday overseas, but the same poll said only a third of people took the same precautions while holidaying in Britain.

Hospital accident and emergency units reported significant numbers of patients suffering severe sunburn in June and July.

Sales of higher-factor suncreams such as 30 and 50 have grown in recent years because of growing public awareness of the danger of sun exposure.

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