The research has also prompted a crackdown on tanning salons by council officers in Knowsley's public health protection division.
They have carried out an assessment of all 38 sunbed salons in the area and have sent them written warnings of the changes they need to make.
Any that fail to comply could be prosecuted. Liverpool City Council is also taking similar action.
Richard Fontana, Knowsley council's principal environmental health officer, said: "Some children are regularly using sunbeds and around half of those who admitted to it said they used them more than once a week.
"It also emerged they don't like wearing goggles either because they don't want white patches but that can cause problems such as cancer in the eye.
"We were told one shop was holding tanning parties inviting people to hire out the venue and turn it into a social event.
"There is no law preventing under-16s from using them but we are using health at work legislation to target shops to make they are acting safely.
"We have sent letters to shops advising them of the changes they should make and we will now be enforcing that. "We will be looking at taking further action if they fail to comply, which could result in prosecution."
MELANOMA is the deadliest form of skin cancer and is mainly caused by sunbed use or too much exposure to sun.
It is the third most common cancer in the 15-39 age group and over the past five years the number of cases has gone up by 24%.
Around a third of cases are fatal and more people now die of skin cancer in the UK than in Australia.
By 2010, it is estimated there will be a one in 50 chance of developing the disease.
News RSS Feed