One in seven people in Britain want a suntan despite the risks of developing skin cancer.

The finding comes from an Imperial Cancer Research Fund (IRCF) investigation into public attitudes towards sunbathing. Three quarters of people want a tan at some time during the year, while a quarter like to be sun bronzed all year round. Some people actually said that they needed a suntan and even the threat of skin cancer would not put them off.

A telephone poll of 1000 people aged 15 years and over, commissioned by the National Opinion Poll, marks the start of the ICRF's new summer campaign "Sun Sense or Sun Abuse?" Campaigners claim that thousands of people develop skin cancer each year because of the public's enduring love affair with the sun.

One in five people said that they would "binge sunbathe" over a weekend, with this figure rising to one in four among 15 to 24 year olds. One in seven would sunbathe without any sunscreen, the report said. Charlotte Proby, consultant dermatologist for the charity, said: "I'm concerned at how desperate some people are for a tan. Sun seeking behaviour and inadequate sun protection increases the risk of being sunburned and this damage will increase the risk of developing skin cancer."

The incidence of skin cancer - the most common cancer in Britain - is increasing, according to the ICRF. There are 40 000 cases and 2000 deaths in the United Kingdom each year. Ninety per cent of all new cases are non-melanomas, which are usually treatable but claimed 467 lives in 1998. The more serious melanoma form of skin cancer killed 1640 in the same year. The charity's campaign highlights the risks by calling on the beauty industry to help people decide that "pale is beautiful" and enlists the support of a holiday company, JMC, to spread its "sun sense message." They want a suntan to become as socially undesirable as smoking.

Some health awareness messages are getting through. The survey shows high awareness of the dangers of sunbathing. Seven in 10 people believe that people with a tan are taking risks with their health and think that tanned people have damaged their skin and will age faster as a result.

The survey concludes that the only way that Britain's sun worshippers will be discouraged is the prospect of developing an illness or directly experiencing the negative effects of the sun.