Some Wiltshire children begin school with serious eye defects that have gone undetected, says Devizes eye specialist Sue Sharp.

Mrs Sharp, wife of canal boat operator Ian Sharp, has been an orthoptist, a specialist who investigates, diagnoses and treats eye defects, for 40 years but she said changes to guidelines brought in 13 years ago have made things worse for sight-impaired children.

She said: “We used to screen children at eight weeks and then at three-and-a-half years, which meant we could pick up any problems before they started school.

“But following the Hall Report into healthcare for children in 1999, children were screened at six weeks and then not until after they started school.

“Last week I screened 30 children at Salisbury District Hospital who had recently started school and three of them had eye defects so serious they were barely able to read the top line on the eye chart.”

Mrs Sharp, 61, was prompted to speak out by the case of Darren Jones, the Devizes taxi driver who has had a lazy eye since childhood and will not have his cab licence renewed by Wiltshire Council because of a change in guidelines.

Mrs Sharp said: “I really feel for this man. If his eye condition had been caught at an early stage, before he was eight or nine, it could have been cured.

"If parents have a family history of squints or wearing glasses, they should get their children seen before they start school.”