OPTICIANS have labelled tests on children's eyesight a shambles, fearing poor school screening leaves many youngsters undiagnosed.
Eye experts at Bateman's Opticians, Market Place, Warminster claim a fifth of all children in the town are suffering from eyesight problems.
The statistics were revealed in a three-year study by London City University that criticised mandatory school eye tests for missing sight-related problems.
A spokeswoman from Bateman's said: "One fifth of Warminster's schoolchildren could be struggling because of undiagnosed eyesight problems because school vision screening is a shambles."
Currently children are tested at primary school when they are five-years-old.
Angela Reeves, headteacher of Sambourne Primary School in Warminster, said: "Children do have a sight test that should be picked up by the school nurse and if we notice a child is showing eyesight problems in lessons we refer it to their parents."
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