Home Office admits passport blunder

The Home Office has recently admitted that it handed out 10,000 passports to fraudsters last year.

Staff at the UK’s top airports, such as Manchester, Gatwick and Glasgow would most likely have seen hundreds of the fraudulent passports.

Among the people wrongly given passports were Dhiren Barot and Salaheddine Benyaich, who have since been convicted of terrorist offences.

Conservative shadow home secretary David Davies said: "This is a shocking admission which betrays chaos at the heart of the passport system. It also further undermines the government’s case for their expensive ID card system.

"Yet again we see the public continue to be put at risk by the consequences of the government’s failure and that the Home Office remains in a state of shambles under Dr John Reid."

The problem has prompted the government to introduce a new scheme, which will see over 600,000 new passport applicants a year attend interviews to determine their eligibility.

If you need a new passport contact UK Passport Information on 0871 310 8350.

There are seven main offices in the UK, located in Belfast, Durham, Liverpool, London, Newport and Peterborough.