Passport delay complaints by people outside Peterborough office

People from across the UK have told the BBC their trips abroad are in doubt due to problems getting new passports.

Some had travelled hundreds of miles to try and see someone in person at Peterborough's passport office.

Natalia Miles said she had come from Tenby, Wales, to see what was happening with her application, submitted in February, but she was "turned away".

HM Passport Office said "98.6% of all applications have been completed within 10 weeks".

People have been advised to leave 10 weeks for a new one, due to increased demand.

Ms Miles told BBC Look East despite sending off her forms in February and payment taken in March, she did not have the passports she needed.

"I've tried everything I can possibly to sort out the passport issue," she said.

She is due to fly early next week.

Joshua Poole, 19, got a train from Leicester to get his passport sorted as he said he submitted his application 10 weeks ago.

"I came down here to get it or try and get an answer, and the most I have been told is to sit and wait for a phone call."

He goes on holiday next Tuesday and said he was feeling confident as he was told, over the phone, his issue would be "put to the front of the queue".

Some hopeful holidaymakers, however, had more success.

Samantha Cotton travelled from Rugby, Warwickshire, to attend a passport appointment as she was going to Alicante, Spain, next week.

However, she said her passport was sorted out in "less than five minutes", adding the service was "amazing".

Lucy Bradshaw, from Evesham, Worcestershire, drove two hours to an appointment as she said it was the only one she could get.

She said in April her niece's passport was sent off and later found it had never been received.

Within about "ten seconds" two new passports were sorted and she should receive them in a week's time, she added.

A HM Passport Office spokeswoman said: "Staff are processing approximately 250,000 passport applications each week and the latest figures show that 98.6% of applications have been completed within 10 weeks.

"But we cannot compromise security checks and people should apply with plenty of time prior to travelling.

"An expedited service is available to help the small percentage of people whose applications take longer than ten weeks to receive their passports before they travel."

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