»New 'Bleeping' Bikini to be launched in Britain«

A new bikini that bleeps every 15 minutes to prevent holidaymakers from sleeping in the sun is set for launch in Britain.

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

Some 59 per cent 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 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," New Look's marketing director Hash Ladha said.

"With 56 per cent of men finding sunburnt peeling skin unattractive, we hope the Tan-Timer Bikini will help our customers avoid that mistake and feel confident when slipping on their summer dresses."

A spokeswoman for the company says a male version could be in the pipeline.