A POLL organised by a national opticians, which has a branch in Wem, found that a significant portion of residents say their eyesight has worsened in the last 12 months.

The poll, by Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care, was carried out to mark 12 months since the first national lockdown was brought in to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

It has been suggested that increased screen time has been a major factor in the decreased eyesight, with more than two-thirds reporting increased amounts of watching TV, shopping, work and scanning social media throughout lockdown.

Despite the challenges, 71 per cent of respondents said they had kept their eye test appointments and of these 47 per cent found their prescriptions had changed for the worse.

Of those who did not take up eye test reminders, three quarters said it was due to Covid concerns.

Melanie Mort, manager of the Wem branch of Scrivens, said taking regular breaks away from screens would help guard against eye strain.

"As restrictions ease and life returns to normal, we hope people will feel more confident about having their eyes checked, especially if they have noticed any differences in their vision," she said.

"More of us are spending more time in a virtual life so we would advise taking regular breaks to guard against eye strain.

"For those who wear glasses or contact lenses it is advisable to keep prescriptions up to date.

"We are open as an essential healthcare provider with Covid-secure measures in place so people can access our services safely.

"It is important to keep appointments for eye tests as they detect not only changes in our vision but are also a means of checking general health too."

Some 69 per cent of respondents to the online survey said that their screen time had increased, with one in 10 putting the extra time at six hours or more a day.

The most popular reasons given were online shopping, watching TV, social media, work, virtual socialising, gaming and home schooling.

Asked who they had missed seeing most during this year, 42 per cent said friends and 22 per cent said grandchildren.