The sale of cheap DIY tattoo kits which can cause infections and leave children as young as 12 ‘branded for life’ should be banned, health chiefs warn. So-called ‘starter kits’ – which feature a handheld ‘gun’ to feed ink through a needle that punctures the skin – can be bought for just £30 on the internet. But untrained buyers will have no idea about health and hygiene rules, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health says.

Tattoos and piercings can trigger allergic reactions or spread serious infections via blood, such as hepatitis and HIV. Officially, licensed parlours are not allowed to tattoo anyone under 18, but there is evidence that some young people are hosting illegal tattoo parties.Part of the problem is that children are keen to copy tattooed celebrities such as David Beckham and Cheryl Cole.

Even the Prime Minister’s wife, Samantha Cameron, has a tattoo on her ankle. Julie Barratt, of the CIEH, said: ‘Young people are buying tattoo kits off the internet and egging each other on. People who want to follow trends will go for the cheapest alternative.’A Google search for the starter kits by the institute returned 1.68million results. In addition, it found half of tattoo parlours fail to advise about the risks, and most fail to ask for proof of age.

There have been deaths associated with infections triggered by tattoos and piercings. The CIEH said several teens in Wales suffered skin infections after a tattoo party. So called ‘tat parties’ have become popular in Scotland, where children queue up to emulate their heroes.

Ms Barratt said: ‘We are talking about an invasive procedure where people are choosing to permanently scar themselves for life. ‘There is a clear risk to the individual and the person carrying out the procedure from the spread of blood borne illnesses. ‘There is rightly a regime for regulating tattoo parlours, however that whole rationale falls if you also have a market in DIY tattoo kits for sale on the internet with people indiscriminately tattooing each other.

‘Officially, registered tattoo artists should not tattoo people who are drunk, because there is a real risk that they will regret something done in a fit of bravado. ‘However, young people are buying tattoo kits off the internet and egging eachother on to do things that, in the cold light of day, they would never do. The fact that so many celebrities now have tattoos means they are seen as fashionable, the social stigma has gone.

‘It can be very expensive to have a big piece of body art done. You can see why people who want to follow trends will go for the cheapest alternative. ‘That might be a tattoo parlour that cuts corners or it might by a DIY kit bought off the internet.’