Lost passport: Dad left fuming after 'absolute shambles' Passport Office 'loses' son's application before holiday to Greece

Marc Ainslie branded the government department an ‘absolute shambles’ after being forced into a last-minute dash to London to save the trip.

The parent and his ex-wife, who lives in Lee-on-the-Solent, submitted the application in January for their two children.

And while the daughter’s passport arrived within four weeks, the 10-year-old son’s passport went missing, with the Passport Office unsure what had happened.

‘They didn’t know what had happened to it and at one point a lady at the office accused my ex-wife of cancelling it. There’s no reason why she would do that. They told us to reapply,’ Marc said.

Amid concerns they were going to miss their holiday, the family called on the help of Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage.

Meanwhile, the family were also supported by the passport progress team after hitting a dead end with the Passport Office.

‘We found out the Passport Office completely lost the application. They offered no apology. Someone had just cancelled it for some reason. It was a very stressful situation,’ Marc said.

After reapplying, Marc was forced into a desperate dash to get the passport. ‘Three days before we were due to be flying I went to London and got my son’s passport,’ he said.

‘If it wasn’t for the passport progress team we would have been none the wiser about what had happened. Things also seemed to move more quickly when the MP got involved.

‘My son suffers with anxiety which was not helped by all this with him left wondering what was going on.’

When at the Passport Office, others revealed the chaos they had suffered. ‘Some people said they had been waiting for a year for their passport. It’s an absolute shambles,’ he said.

‘I think the backlog is being caused by people working from home. I don’t think there will be a big change until they put more resources into it either.’

Despite the near miss, Marc added: ‘The holiday was fantastic. We’re glad it had a happy ending. Hopefully others won’t have to go through the same thing but it’s useful to know what to do if they are in a similar position.’

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