Sun worshippers warned: "Don't slap on the COOKING OIL"

The warning comes after a survey found a quarter of people deliberately avoid using sunscreen in a bid to tan quicker and some even raid their kitchen cupboards to find weird and no-so-wonderful substances to literally baste themselves with.

Many admitted to researchers that they use vegetable, olive and coconut oil on their skin before sunbathing, with men (38 per cent) worse than women (nine per cent) for raiding the kitchen cupboards. 

Rotherham Borough Council’s director for public health, Teresa Roche said: “It’s great to get outdoors, especially if you are getting active. 

“However, you should always protect yourself against the sun — you can burn in the UK even on a cloudy day in the spring and summer and not just abroad.  

“Always use a reputable brand of sunscreen with SPF protection of at least SPF 30 in the UK with SPF 50 needed if going abroad, for both UVA and UVB. “Vegetable and other cooking oils will not give any protection.”

Two in five people said they weren’t bothered about being sunburnt — with a quarter believing their sunburn will turn into a tan — and half don’t check the UV forecast.

More than 80 per cent will apply sunscreen when abroad but more than halfdon’t use in the UK, a quarter telling the survey team the sun is not strong enough here to burn them.

The findings prompted a warning from Love Island’s Dr Alex George, an NHS doctor who  suffered bad sunburn in last year’s series.

“Whether at home in the UK or holidaying abroad, we need to take sun protection and damage seriously,” he said.

“We all have a friend that burns quicker than others — risking serious skin damage and even melanoma skin cancer to achieve a tan is simply not worth it.”

Sunshine can help you get Vitamin D to keep your bones healthy, but it's important to always protect your skin, experts say, adding that getting a tan does not stop it getting long term damage or reduce your chance of getting skin cancer. 

Between 2011 and 2015, around 57 people each year were diagnosed with the skin cancer melanoma — with one in seven of them dying because of it.

Around 16,000 people were diagnosed with melanoma in the UK in 2015. 

In the last ten years, the number of people being diagnosed with melanoma in the UK has increased by almost half.

A council spokeswoman said: “Other types of skin cancer are more common and less life threatening but treatment for them can ruin the appearance of your skin.” 

To protect your skin from the sun remember to Slip, Slop, Slap:

q Slip on comfortable clothes to cover you

q Slop on some sunscreen

q Slap on a hat

Visit https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-body/sunscreen-and-sun-safety/ for more information on staying safe in the sun.