Simon Fox hasn’t always been blind.

In 2005, aged 27, he set off for work one morning on the A20 towards Ashford but moments before a lorry had haemorrhaged oil on the road.

His car span and crashed with such impact his face was mostly destroyed, his right optic nerve was crushed and he lost his left eye entirely.

After William Harvey Hospital medics battled to stabilise him a stone’s throw from the crash site, doctors said he would never see again and work began to rebuild his face and rehabilitate his broken body.

Simon, now 40, welcomed me into his Earlscliff Mews home, off Folkestone’s Shorncliffe Road, where he lives with wife Priscilla, 32, and guide dog Umber.

“I had a hole in the bridge of my skull about the size of a 20p piece where I lost brain fluid,” he said.

“I had a bleed on the brain, the other titanium plates are in my cheekbone and my jaw. I remember waking up with wires and screws holding my teeth in place.”

Thirteen years on and the ex-mechanic has no sight at all, but he recently completed an IT NVQ at Sussex Downs College in Eastbourne, a two-hour train ride away.

Sometimes, however, Folkestone’s Central and West train stations are unmanned and, without assistance to navigate the barriers, Simon can’t travel and goes home.

“The more automation we’re getting the harder it is to get help.

I understand I have limits but all it would take is for there to be one member of staff there,” he said.

Simon, Umber, Priscilla and I walked in a loop via Shorncliff Road, Earls Avenue, Sandgate Road and Castle Hill Avenue.

Standing at the pavement’s edge in Shorncliff Road, one of Folkestone’s busiest thoroughfares, Simon listened intently to traffic with Umber by his side.

“Forward,” he commanded as the din of engines receded, and so the pair paced to the middle traffic island and listened again.

He told me: “The problem is there isn’t any tactile pavement to feel under my feet so I don’t know if I’m stood in the middle of the road about to be killed.

“It can make you anxious.”

Umber suddenly hesitated in front of a puddle in Earls Avenue. Like many dogs he doesn’t like water, which can hinder navigation.

Puddles caused by blocked drains can confuse Umber, as can roads without pavements.

His intensive training means the dog can mistake the road for a path, so he may guide Simon directly into oncoming traffic.

Simon said: “It happened when I was in Littlestone. So many things make easy journeys difficult and dangerous.

“Random street furniture and untidy wheelie bins can trip you up for example.”

As we made our way down Castle Hill Avenue roadworks sounded off and tactile pavements were scarce, even on Shepway council’s busy driveway.

Accidentally standing in the middle of the road Simon said: “This can happen quite often. The pavement is low so Umber didn’t recognise we were walking into the road, and I can’t feel any guidance under my feet.

“I can’t hear anything, it can really throw me off and I become lost.”

In those moments he’s fortunate enough to be able to phone Priscilla who will immediately drop what she’s doing and scout the streets.

When we arrived back at Simon’s home he explained long journeys can also be stressful.

Losing track of where he is while travelling by bus and train companies failing to provide assistance are common themes.

He explained: “Once when I was going to college with Umber we stopped at a different platform to the usual.

“I walked the usual way and things became quiet, then a person’s voice shouted ‘excuse me mate you’re about to walk off the end of the platform’.”

The fact is there are scores of tweaks society could make to improve blind people’s lives: Loudspeakers on buses, tactile pavements, adequate road crossings, less random street furniture and being mindful with things like wheelie bins.

Simon added: “I’m quite fortunate because I know what it is like to have sight so I understand businesses need to make money and things are tight for councils.

“But we should be consulted by councils and big businesses to help them understand what our needs are.

“If bus companies can afford to install these fancy touch pads for people to pay on, surely they can afford talking buses.”