A CHAIN smoker who worked her way through more than 300,000 cigarettes over 30 years has told how she nearly went blind because of her addiction.

Marilyn Clarke suffered a haemorrhage in her eye socket which led to severe bleeding and partial loss of sight.

After a trip to her GP, she was sent to the Royal Bolton Hospital and was treated by top eye doctor Dr Simon Kelly.

The specialist demanded she quit her habit immediately or risk losing her sight forever.

Mrs Clarke, aged 65, of Chorley Road, Westhoughton, said: "As work got more and more stressful, I smoked more and more.

"I can honestly say this condition is the most terrifying thing that's ever happened to me.

"I know if I'd kept on smoking then I'd be in a real mess, and who knows what would have happened to my eyesight.

"There is nothing nice about smoking and I would urge anyone who is a smoker to give up as soon as they can."

Mrs Clarke, a former nursing home administrator, started smoking when she was 32 and went through about 10 cigarettes a day.

But her habit soon got worse and she was soon lighting up 30 times a day.

She was diagnosed with a central retinal vein occlusion nonischemic variety in her left eye three years ago. The condition causes sight loss because of bleeding in the back of the eye.

Mrs Clarke spoke out today as the doctor who treated her called for warnings on cigarette packets about the effects smoking can have on eyesight.

Dr Kelly, a consultant ophthalmic surgeon, was one of a team of experts who found that evidence showing smoking can lead to blindness is as strong as the links to lung cancer.

He said: "The case against smoking is compelling. Tobacco smoke contains more than 48,000 chemical compounds, including 69 carcinogens.

"The consequences of smoking are staggering. It has more than 50 ways of making your life a misery and more than 20 ways of causing death. There are 1,000 hospital admissions every day as a result of diseases caused by smoking and half of all teenagers who currently smoke will die of a smoking-related disease if they continue."

l The Bolton Evening News launched its Stub It Out campaign after it was revealed that 29 per cent of people in Bolton smoked, compared to a national average of 27 per cent.

The campaign called for a ban on smoking in public places.

In February the Government voted by a massive majority to ban smoking in all public places, including pubs, clubs and private members bars. New laws will be brought in this year.