A ROUTINE eye test could have saved a woman’s sight after it helped diagnose a detached retina.

Days before Ann Grove, 66, visited her optician for a long-planned appointment, she began suffering from flashes of light and blurred vision.

Colchester Specsavers optometrist Rayna Nandhra spotted some abnormalities with her right eye and sent her to Essex County Hospital for an urgent eye test.

The next morning – just 18 hours after visiting the optician – Mrs Grove underwent surgery under local anaesthetic.

If a detached retina, often part of the ageing process, is not treated a patient can lose sight in that eye.

See Wednesday's Gazette for more