MORE than 2,500 children in special schools across the region have never had an eye test, a charity has revealed.

New research from SeeAbility, the national sight loss and disability charity, has found that nearly four in ten (37 per cent) of pupils attending special schools across the country have no history of eye tests.

In the North-East, 2,503 disabled children have not had an eye test, while 3,104 children in Yorkshire and the Humber are also missing out on the eye care they need.

The charity said the findings were made worse as children with learning disabilities are 28 times more likely to have sight problems than other children.

The figures are published in a new report as part of the charity's Children in Focus campaign.

The report draws evidence from the charity’s research project with Cardiff University’s School of Optometry and Vision Science.

The charity’s chief executive, David Scott-Ralphs, said: “We are calling on the Government to make sight tests available in every special school in England.

“Children with profound disabilities may not be able to tell someone they have a sight problem, or get to a high street optician. Let’s bring much needed eye care to them instead.

“We want people to join our Children in Focus Campaign and sign the petition on our website. This will be handed in to the Department of Health as this is a major health inequality that the government and NHS have a responsibility to address.”

The charity has been delivering specialist sight tests to pupils in a cluster of London based special schools since October 2013. The pilot scheme has since extended to seven schools.

To support the campaign visit seeability.org/petition or donate £5 by texting SEE to 70004.