A SOUTHAMPTON MP donned a blindfold and walked through a busy precinct to understand the dangers posed to blind people.

MP for Southampton Itchen Royston Smith was challenged to walk through Bitterne precinct with Lenny, a 20-month-old labrador, as part of a campaign by UK charity Guide Dogs.

It is calling for a new law to be brought in to stop people from parking on pavements, an obstruction which causes “serious dangers” to visually impaired people.

It comes after a survey by the charity showed that 97 per cent of blind or partially sighted people encounter problems with street obstructions, and 90 per cent of those had experienced trouble with a car parked on a pavement.

Guide Dogs engagement officer Katie Smith said: “The most important part of working with MPs is that they experience their local community in the way that vision impaired people do every day, and the obstacles that can land a person in danger.

“That could be badly placed ‘a’ boards, different levels of pavements and cars parked on the pavement.”

The Guide Dogs campaign wants a standardised law across the country which would make it clear that pavement parking should be the exception, not the norm for motorists, and give authorities real power to properly tackle this problem.

The charity says it wants “a clear law where drivers cannot park on the pavement unless in a specifically designated area, in line with Greater London”.

Now Royston says he will bring up the issue of pavement parking in parliament - and said his short experience with Lenny the guide dog was “challenging”.

He added: “MPs like to say that they know everything - but of course we don’t so if we get the opportunity to live it in the way that other people do it does help me to understand the challenges and do a bit more to alleviate it.

“I will speak to council leader Simon Letts to see if we can do something collaboratively.”