A ROUTINE eye check saved the sight of a Hampshire pensioner after an optician spotted signs of the common eye disease glaucoma.

Retired scaffolder Charles Hurl, 82, went into the Lymington High Street branch of Specsavers because he thought he needed reading glasses.

But when optician Neil Constantine-Smith tested him, he quickly identified a severe problem and referred Mr Hurl to hospital, where he was diagnosed not only with glaucoma but also cataracts.

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Glaucoma has few or no symptoms and the sufferer is often unaware of any problem until it is quite severe – unless he or she goes for regular eye tests.

Mr Constantine-Smith said: “The disease can affect around two in every 100 people over the age of 40. It becomes more common with increasing age, meaning early detection is so important. In the most extreme cases it can lead to blindness.”

Mr Hurl, of Adams Road, Hythe, has just had an operation to remove one of his cataracts and is being given treatment to control the glaucoma.

He said: “I am just so grateful that the people at Specsavers caught this early enough for me to respond well to treatment. I didn’t know anything about glaucoma.

“I had a pair of glasses 20 or 30 years ago, but in the end I put them in the bin. I’ve struggled without them since.”

Today is World Glaucoma Day, held to raise awareness of the disease.