Holiday clubbers to be given earplugs

Young holidaymakers heading to the nightclubs of Ibiza and Ayia Napa are to be issued with earplugs to protect them from the effects of loud music.

The foam prophylactics will be handed out next weekend at Stansted airport in Essex to clubbers embarking on their summer holiday, which in many cases amounts to a two-week onslaught for the ears.

The event is part of a campaign launched by the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), which is concerned about the health effects of loud dance and garage clubs combined with daytime use of personal stereos.

As part of its Don't Lose the Music campaign, the charity, which represents 9 million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK, has taken its message to Glastonbury Festival. It will issue a similar warning at the Notting Hill Carnival in west London this month.

Research from the RNID has indicated that people aged 18 to 30 were at risk of causing lasting damage to their hearing. One study found that 66 per cent of clubbers experienced the warning signs of hearing damage, such as ringing in the ears or dullness of hearing, after a night out. The research also found that 35 per cent of clubbers were regular users of personal stereos.

Brian Dow, head of campaigns at RNID, said: "On holiday, and particularly a clubbing holiday, it is likely that people are exposing themselves to even more loud music by listening to their Walkmans all day whilst lying by the pool and then again when they go to bars and clubs in the evening."