Owing to poor hygiene, contact lens wearers in the UK are more at risk of developing a rare but preventable eye infection that can cause blindness, researchers have warned.

The team from the University College London (UCL) found that the risk of developing the disease -- Acanthamoeba keratitis -- was more than three times greater amongst people with poor contact lens hygiene, people who did not always wash and dry their hands before handling their lenses.