ONE in five people in East Lancashire are potentially at risk because they cannot read the small print on food labels or medicines, according to new research.
The Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) also revealed today that for more than 70 per cent of the two million people with major sight problems in the UK the dangers can be acute.
RNIB estimates that in Blackburn with Darwen there are 2,253 blind and partially-sighted people, along with Hyndburn (1,407), Pendle (1,507) Ribble Valley (1,041), Burnley (1,598), Rossendale (1,112), Chorley (1,607).
As well as the safety aspect, there are many other areas of people's lives where small print is excluding a worryingly large proportion of the population.
For example official forms and bills, electronic displays and bus numbers cannot be read easily.
The RNIB research is published today in a new report "Access to information: the views of 1,000 people with sight problems."
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