/ 11 August 2005

Beeping bikini to stop beach burn

A new bikini which beeps every 15 minutes to prevent holidaymakers from sleeping in the sun was to be shown off in Britain on Thursday.

The invention could stop the traditional ghastly seaside sight of bright-red Britons on beaches across the world.

New Look, Britain’s third-biggest women’s clothes retailer, was to launch the Tan-Timer Bikini on Brighton beach on the south coast.

About 59% of Britons admit to nodding off in the sun, so the electronic device, which attaches to the swimsuit, bleeps every quarter of an hour to remind dozy Brits to wake up and seek shade or roll over to toast the other side.

The bikini is to hit stores across the United Kingdom next week.

”As well as the health implication of over-exposing your skin to the sun, burnt or peeling skin is not a good look for the image-conscious,” said New Look’s marketing director Hash Ladha.

A spokesperson for the company said a male version could be in the pipeline. – Sapa-AFP