Almost a quarter of British women do not plan to use sun cream on their summer holidays abroad, a survey by Macmillan Cancer Support has found.
The poll of 1,500 women, conducted ahead of Sun Awareness Week which starts Monday, showed 22% do not wear creams to protect them from UV rays when they are abroad.
The most common reasons given were that they do not sunburn, that it is too expensive or that they think it does not work.
Almost half said they thought using after-sun cream corrected some of the damage done to their skin.
Macmillan Information Nurse specialist Carol Goodman said: "As people are preparing to go abroad for their annual holiday, it is very concerning that nearly a quarter of British women are putting themselves at risk of skin cancer by not wearing any suntan lotion abroad.
"Over 2,500 people die of skin cancer every year and so it is a real issue."
Macmillan advises applying sun cream half an hour before going into the sun and applying a second layer once it has sunk into the skin to ensure getting the protection the bottle suggests. It should then be reapplied every hour.
For more information visit www.macmillan.org.uk/skin or call 0808 808 00 00.
The survey was conducted by Toluna Group on behalf of Macmillan and took place online during February 28 and March 2.
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