A MAN suffering from skin cancer has warned others they are not invincible to unrepairable damage caused from being unprotected out in the sun.

Andy Booker's appeal comes after he was diagnosed with the disease last year.

He now has to undergo regular checks and treatment to ensure it is controlled and does not spread any further.

The 55-year-old from Abingdon said: "I think that one of the problems is that men are reluctant to get themselves checked out but it does not make you any less of a man by going to the doctors.

"I had a spot on my forehead which looked a bit like a mosquito bite.

"It was very angry and red and just would not go away.

"After being persuaded by my wife to go to the doctors to get it checked, that was when they said it was skin cancer."

The father-of-four had spent years working outside in Gibraltar and has spoken out about the need for men to be more careful in the sun.

He said: "I was lucky it got caught in plenty of time.

"It was on my ears, my neck, my back and shoulders. It is the Basal strand of skin cancer.

"Although the strand of skin cancer I have is non-life threatening it is always going to be a part of my life.

"Skin cancer does not happen straight away it could come back to bite you in 10 years' time."

Having recently raised more than £5,000 for Cancer Research UK, Mr Booker said he hoped his experience would encourage others to think twice about their own skin.

He added: "Some construction companies are handing out sun cream to their workers because of spending so much time out in the sun.

"But so many times men just ignore it and think they will be fine but they need to take up the offer and protect themselves.

"Wear suncream and make sure you put it on more than once everyday and wear a cap."

Mr Booker's advice comes as NHS England launched a campaign to encourage men to "Cover up, Mate" especially after the recent spout of hot weather.

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust dermatology consultant, Dr Richard Turner, said: "The push this summer has been to address the fact that men are really poor at looking after themselves.

"The message we need to get through to men is that they have to cover up and put sun cream on themselves.

"By not wearing sun scream you are damaging your body in the long term.

"Skin cancer does not just happen overnight, if you are in your 20s now, signs of the cancer will hit you when you are in your 40s, 50s and 60s."

Statistics have shown that the number of people with malignant melanoma in Oxfordshire is 50.38 per cent above the national average, the highest rate in the South East. 

The number of patients that are being treated for the disease in Oxfordshire has risen from 2,793 in 2009 to 3,374 last year - hitting a peak of 3,392 in 2013.

Dr Turner added: "This campaign is to help prevent the next generation from getting the disease.

"Most of your UV exposure happens in the first 20 years of your life and if you think about it for a cell to be damaged, go wrong and develop it will decades before that comes to the surface.

"The most common places for skin cancer to form is on your back and if you're out working in the sun on a construction site and you take your shirt off because it is too hot, you need to make sure that you are wearing sun cream and that it gets reapplied.

"Although there are some skin cancers which are non-life threatening often people that have that type have to undergo life-changing surgery, that could disfigure them as the cells are removed from the body."

For more information on the NHS campaign visit: england.nhs.uk/south/2016/07/18/coverupmate