Under-18s will be banned from visiting sunbed salons in a move by the government to reduce the risk of young people developing skin cancer.

Gillian Merron, the public health minister, said that voluntary action by the sunbed industry to stop children had failed and that ministers planned to introduce legislation to tackle the problem.

The proposed ban comes as research reported in today's British Medical Journal shows that more than 250,000 children aged 11-17 in England are thought to use sunbeds. It shows that up to half of all girls aged 15-17 in some areas undergo artificial tanning, which experts warn seriously increases the risk of malignant melanoma, the most aggressive form of skin cancer.

Two studies of children's tanning habits highlighted in the BMJ, which were government-funded and commissioned by Cancer Research UK (CRUK), found that 6% of 9,000 children aged 11-17 interviewed had used a sunbed. The average age of first use was 14, they found. If translated across England that would mean that around 250,000 children in that age group had done so. Girls, children of both sexes from deprived communities and those in the north of England are disproportionately likely to use sunbeds.

"We are determined to protect young people from the dangers of using sunbeds," said Merron. "Cancer Research UK's report clearly shows worrying levels of sunbed use by under-18s. The report confirms that voluntary action by the industry is not protecting young people, and points to the need to introduce legislation."

The Department of Health said: "We are currently looking at options on how to introduce such a ban on under-18s using commercial sunbeds."

Jenny Morris, of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), said: "These numbers are appalling. We must act now to limit the future damage to health. The CIEH has long campaigned to ban the use of sunbeds by under-18s and the provision of unsupervised facilities, and to ensure facilities provide supervision by well-trained staff. Scotland has taken action, Wales has made a firm commitment to take action. England should act swiftly to ensure it does not offer lower levels of protection."

The health department decided to act after growing concern about the links between sunbed use and later development of malignant melanoma, which is four times more common now than in the 1970s. Rates are rising four times faster than for any other type of cancer. More than 10,400 cases were diagnosed in the UK in 2006, 10% of which were in under-35s. The disease, the riskiest and most lethal form of skin cancer, kills more than 2,000 people a year. Some teenagers have suffered horrendous burns after visiting sunbed salons, especially coin-operated premises with no staff.

Nina Goad, of the British Association of Dermatologists, said: "We would rightly be horrified if children had such easy access to cigarettes, so there is no reason why sunbeds should be any different, given that we know they can cause cancer."

However, Merron's pledge covers only commercial tanning places, such as high street salons and leisure centres. Today's research shows that 23.2% of children who use sunbeds do so at home. The move also does not meet the demands of bodies such as CRUK and the CIEH for more wide-ranging action, including the closure of unsupervised sunbed premises and ensuring that local authority enforcement officers can inspect salons to ensure minimum standards are being upheld.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, the World Health Organisation's cancer arm, recently declared ultraviolet radiation exposure, including radiation from sunbeds, to be "carcinogenic to humans". And the government's own adviser, the Committee on the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment, has also previously called for tough action against sunbeds.