People across Exmouth are being urged to recognise the look of love this Valentine’s Day.

According to a recent survey, 69 per cent of people in the South West believe in love at first sight, whilst 56 per cent reckon the eyes are a key signal when falling in love.

This infers that first impressions are possibly more important than we think.

Specsavers conducted the poll, finding that more than half (51 per cent) of South West relationships, starting with love at first sight, are maintaining their strength.

Indeed, 45 per cent of South West adults concur that love at first sight is the most romantic way to meet someone while a third (30 per cent) have experienced it.

Clinical services director at Specsavers, Giles Edmonds, said: "They say the eyes are a window to the soul, and now we can see just how important they are when it comes to falling in love.

"By ensuring your clarity of vision this Valentine’s Day, you’ll be making sure that 'the one' doesn’t slip away unnoticed."

Exmouth Journal: People across Exmouth are being urged to recognise the look of love this Valentine’s Day

An astonishing 86 per cent of us appreciate the importance of maintaining good eye contact during the initial stages of dating a potential partner.

In line with this, Specsavers has collaborated with Judi James, a body language expert, to aid in spotting signs of interest and potentially deeper feelings.

Judi James explains why love at first sight is complex, neurologically speaking.

She explains: "Instant love is usually based on thousands of memories that accrue in our lives.

"All the 'ideal' personality traits, visual stimulus and role models that we’ve got stored away will suddenly seem to be encompassed in this one person we’re looking at."

Ms James adds: "Without a doubt, most of the symptoms of love at first sight are created via the eyes – it starts and sometimes ends with the eye connection…We fall in love because our eyes speak to each other in a complex way that we don’t often understand ourselves."

For those looking for love this Valentine’s Day, Ms James has offered six telltale signs that someone might be falling for you.

These include sustained eye contact, a cycle of looking and looking again in a 'peek-a-boo' fashion, signs of coy embarrassment, physiological changes such as pupil dilation, subtle eye communication and the subconscious mirroring of behaviour.