A week of news - finding the next Speyederman

An imaginative approach to help arrest the 10 year dip in child eye test numbers was revealed by Vision Express this week.

The multiple opened a nationwide search for a star character to appear in a superhero comic later this year.

It appealed for youngsters aged 4-11 years old, who would have their image hand-drawn by illustrators.

Whoever is chosen for the role will join a gang of five superheroes called the Medikidz, and aim to do for optics what the Milkybar kid did for white chocolate. The success of the latter might go some way to explaining why 70 per cent of youngsters found their way to the dental chair while snubbing eye tests.