HERE comes the sun and with the long days spent outside, accident and emergency departments are poised to attend thousands of children with sunburn.

The sunshine is glorious and it is possible to spend time in the sun without doing damage to yourself.

The message from Preston's community and healthcare workers is work, rest and play in a sun safe way. Through the 'Keeping Kids Safe' campaign, they are urging parents to slap on the sun cream and protect children from the sun's harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.

According to medical experts UV radiation can damage the skin and eyes. The effects of sun damage can be freckling, tanning, sun burning, wrinkling, cataracts and skin cancer -- the most common cause of cancer in the world. Sister Sarifa Kabir, of Royal Preston Hospital's accident and emergency department, said: "Over the past 14 years I have seen many burns and scalds and injuries caused from hot water, tea and coffee, but some of the most traumatic ones are from sunburn."

She said there are three kinds of UV rays -- UVA, UVB and UVC. Of these rays, two are harmful -- UVA and UVB -- and could cause skin damage.

Sister Kabir said: "People should limit outdoor activities between 10am and 4pm when the sun's rays are at their strongest and try to keep babies out of the sun.

Sunscreen should be applied 30 minutes before you go outside and regularly re-applied every two or three hours. Sun seekers should wear a hat and sunglasses and pay attention to vulnerable areas like nose, lips, ears, backs of hands and feet.