A woman whose daughter died of skin cancer has asked the government to cut sun cream taxes to help save lives.

There has been a 32% increase in the number of people dying from melanoma in Northern Ireland in the last five years.

Helen Lowry was one of the victims – she died from malignant melanoma last year at the age of 42, leaving a husband and two children behind.

Now her mother, Beryl McKee, has started to campaign against taxes on sun lotions, which are taxed at the current VAT rate of 20%.

Mrs McKee told the BBC: "Taxes should be removed from the sale of creams to encourage more people to buy them. Adults may cover their children but they aren't applying cream to themselves. Many can't afford it."

Helen was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 2003 after a doctor found a mole on her back.

The cancer came back in 2010 and Helen died in February 2011.

Mrs McKee said: "There is a terrible hole in our lives now. You never think it will happen to you, but it can - it happened to us. Helen loved the sun - she was a sun-worshipper. But Helen used a very low sun factor and we would all shout at her to cover up. She never thought it would lead to cancer."

Mrs McKee also called for a vigorous public health campaign, saying people in Northern Ireland do not realise they are at risk from the sun's rays here.

She said: "We need to have better awareness about skin cancer, and the adverts need to be more hard-hitting."

(NE)