Failure to apply for 2012/13 retention has led to 221 removals from the General Optical Council's register.
As of the March 31 deadline 102 dispensing opticians, 93 optometrists and 26 bodies corporate had failed to apply for retention. This was just 1 per cent of the numbers on the registers and does not include the 232 practitioners and 40 businesses who voluntarily withdrew for other reasons.
Philip Hallam, the GOC's head of registration, said that as in other years the vast majority had applied for retention on time. Online retention was used by 96.8 per cent of registrants, up from 94.8 per cent last year.
Businesses and individuals removed will have to complete a restoration form, prove CET compliance and pay a fee of £330 before being able to practise again legally.