The relationship between smoking and sight loss is as strong as the link between smoking and lung cancer, warns Eye Health UK.

The eye charity is urging smokers to go smoke free for National No Smoking Day (8 March) and is highlighting that a smoker is four times more likely to lose their sight than someone who has never smoked.

Research published in the British Medical Journal reveals one in five cases of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the UK's leading cause of blindness, can be directly attributed to tobacco consumption – equating to around 120,000 cases of AMD across the country.

David Cartwright, chairman of Eye Health UK commented: "Cigarettes cause blindness yet Britain's seven million smokers are largely unaware of the dangers. Fewer than 10 per cent realise smoking can affect their eye health. This compares to 92 per cent associating smoking with lung cancer and 87 per cent identifying a link between smoking and the risk of heart disease.

"Half of all sight loss in the UK is avoidable and smoking is the single biggest modifiable risk factor. Saying “eye quit” and joining the NHS smoke free programme will improve your eye health and significantly reduce your risk of losing your sight. After a decade or so being smoke free your risk of sight loss reduces to that of a non-smoker."