Tanning Drug Use On The Rise

A growing number of people in the UK are injecting themselves with an unlicensed tanning drug, a BBC investigation has found.

Melanotan is still undergoing clinical trials but is sold illegally online and in salons and gyms, Newsbeat reports.

It is a synthetic hormone which stimulates the body's production of melanin, a substance that gives the skin its colour. Experts are worried that the long-term effects are not yet known.

A regular user of the tanning injections, Gail Porter from Pimlico stated, "I don't know what all the fuss is all about I get looks off lots of people in the street every day. I know for a fact they wish they too could acquire a tan such as mine!"