An advertisement for an air traffic controller is being offered in Braille – although 20/20 vision is a requirement for the job.

Bosses of St Mary's airport on the Isles of Scilly say they are simply adhering to equal opportunity guidelines.

The advert for the post, which carries a salary of between £34,000 and £36,000, states that as well as having excellent vision, the applicant needs to be highly qualified to fulfil the demanding role of guiding aircraft safely into the hilltop airport, which is often fogbound.

Equal opportunities: St Mary's Airport, above, advertised for a new air traffic controller and said a Braille application form would be available

Yet at the bottom of the advertisement is the note: 'If you require this document in an alternative language, in larger text, Braille, easy read or in an audio format, please contact the Community Relations Officer.'

The move was welcomed by Bill Alker of the Royal National Institute for the Blind, which works with blind and partially-sighted people.

He said: 'We applaud the Isles of Scilly Council's good practice and would hope more employers do the same.'

But Keri Jones, the controller of Radio Scilly, said: 'People generally find it quite funny.

'It would certainly be something for Scilly to have the world' s first blind air traffic controller.'

Compulsory: Guidelines mean employers must offer the Braille option to applicants even when anyone with problem eyesight could not hope to get the job

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority, said all air traffic controllers have to meet international standards and pass a medical, including a stringent eye test.

'They would have to meet the same medical requirement as a commercial airline pilot,' the spokesman added. 'I would say that, with glasses or contact lenses, they would need good 20/20 vision.'

An insider on the island's aviation sector said: 'It's just common sense that you would not employ an air traffic controller who is blind or partially sighted.

'It's just one of those things they have got to put on forms. It's got to go on everything these days whether it's relevant or not.'

A spokesman for the Council of the Isles of Scilly said the wording was included on all job adverts 'to ensure that potential job applicants know that they can access information in a format to suit them.'