eBay is facing court action for allowing contact lenses to be sold on its auction website

The legal action which involves 10 specimen cases was brought by the General Optical Council (GOC) which has accused eBay of for "aiding and abetting" sales of contact lenses without the involvement of a qualified optician.

Talking to the Daily Telegraph, Prof Nathan Efron, a council member said selling contact lenses this way is potentially dangerous to the wearer.

"Lenses sit directly on the eye so even if they feel fine to the wearer there is a risk of infection and irritation. These kinds of problems could result in the wearer becoming intolerant and not being able to wear contacts again.

"However is a worst case scenario it could lead to vision loss and blindness. It is incredibly important to have lenses fitted by a qualified professional," he said.

The GOC said eBay had been made aware of the situation in November last year, but as of yesterday morning 200 contact lenses sales were still being advertised on eBay. These have now been taken off the website since the summons was issued.

There will be a hearing next month during which the council will argue that eBay is responsible for preventing unsupervised sales of contact lenses via its website.

eBay is reported to have said it has no comment bar it will plead not guilty to the charges.