A DARLINGTON opticians is celebrating 20 years of serving the local community.

Specsavers in High Row is proud to have been looking after the ear and eye health of local residents for the last two decades.

The store has marked a number of milestones in the last 20 years and has hosted various charitable initiatives, raising funds for Guide Dogs UK, St Teresa’s Hospice, Family Help Darlington and most recently local child bereavement charity, 4Louis.

The business showed its commitment to the town in 2019 by undergoing a £350,000 investment which saw the introduction of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), the creation of two new consulting rooms and one audiology room.

Director at Specsavers in Darlington, Dr Nigel Best, says: "Supporting the local community is at the heart of what we do here at Specsavers and we’re committed to providing the people of Darlington with the best optical and hearing services available.

"The last few years have been particularly difficult for Darlington with an awful lot of closures on the High Street – we lost BHS, Marks and Spencer, Starbucks and we almost lost House of Fraser. I’m delighted to say that despite this, Specsavers has confidence in the town centre and continues to invest in its future.

"It’s been a pleasure to serve local people for the last 20 years and to celebrate our anniversary we’d like to give something back to our customers."

The store is celebrating its birthday by offering a free standard eye test to those who pay for an enhanced, 3D eye scan using the OCT machine.

The OCT machine is a cutting-edge piece of equipment, usually found in hospital eye departments, which allows optometrists to view the eye in more detail than ever before.

The technology allows an optometrist to visualise layers of the eye that would not normally be visible using traditional eye testing techniques enabling earlier detection of conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy.

From February 24 to March 1, customers can benefit from a free standard eye test – usually costing £25 – when they purchase an enhanced, 3D eye scan for just £10.

Dr Nigel Best adds: "I encourage customers to come in store and make use of our fantastic birthday offer. The scan will be offered in addition to a free, thorough standard eye test, during which the optometrist will use a range of clinical tests and procedures to measure the quality of someone’s vision, as well as taking an overview of the health of their eyes. The OCT scan takes just a few seconds and is completely painless.

"Given that nearly half of all sight loss is preventable, the sooner we can detect these conditions, the sooner we can help manage them or refer people for treatment."

In order to redeem the offer, it must be cited by the customer when the appointment is booked or when a customer arrives in store.

Customers can redeem the deal by citing ‘20th anniversary offer’ when booking by telephone or arriving in store.

To book an eye test at the Darlington store in High Row, call 01325 461 155 or visit https://www.specsavers.co.uk/stores/darlington