A man who ran an illegal tanning business in Melbourne has been slapped with fines and legal fees totalling more than $61,000.

Steven Hawker, 48, previously pleaded guilty to nine charges under the Radiation Act by providing a tanning unit for a fee on 853 occasions after advertising on Gumtree.

Solariums and sunbeds were banned in Victoria from the start of 2015, following research on their links to cancer.

Hawker, who has worked as a hairdresser for 30 years, appeared via video link in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.

He bought the tanning bed on eBay in early January 2015 for $5300, subsequently advertising the unit for use, with a number of people responding over several months.

The court was told the Department of Health and Human Services contacted Hawker, asking him to remove the ad immediately and advising that he risked substantial fines.

But Hawker emailed back “eat my arse”.

An investigative journalist subsequently contacted Hawker and used the solarium.

Magistrate Tara Hartnett noted Hawker continued operating even after authorities warned him that what he was doing was illegal.

“The continued offending was incredibly bold, brazen and arrogant,” she said.

Hawker was fined an aggregate sum of $18,000 and ordered to pay costs of $43,628.

-AAP