Passport backlog leaves Balderton man stranded at home - after he'd saved £1,800 over two years for dream holiday

A man saved up £1,800 over two years to take his partner and her two children on holiday abroad, only to have to stay behind because his passport didn’t arrive in time.

Sharon Arnold, of Wolfit Avenue, Balderton, had to take Aidan, 12, and Holly, 9, to Majorca on the seven-day break without her fiancé, Craig Page, whose passport application got caught up in the national backlog.

Mr Page, 31, a forklift truck driver at Knowhow, Newark, applied for his passport in March, three months before they were due to fly out.

An application for a first-time adult passport should take up to six weeks to process.

In the two weeks leading up to the holiday on June 1, Mr Page and Miss Arnold were left frantically calling the UK Passport Office every day to see if the application had been processed.

The couple said they were told on Wednesday, May 28, the passport would take three to four working days to arrive by courier from an office in Durham.

They asked if they could drive to Durham to fetch it themselves, but were told that a first-time adult passport must arrive by courier.

Mr Page said his passport finally arrived on June 4, three days after his family had flown to Majorca without him.

It would have been the family’s first trip abroad together.

Mr Page said: “I was mad that I couldn’t go to Durham to collect the passport.

“They had it and it was printed. I don’t see why I couldn’t have gone there and taken lots of ID with me.

“I had been ringing for two weeks with no answer.”

He said if there was a backlog the Passport Office should advise people to apply sooner.

Mr Page said he had lost £500-£600 on the holiday.

“When Sharon sent me a picture of the hotel, I didn’t want to see it,” he said.

He said he would try to get a late deal next year so they could go abroad together.

Miss Arnold said she could not get excited about the trip but had a good time because of her children.

The UK Passport Office said its records showed Mr Page received and signed for his passport on May 30, which he disputes.

It said the application was received on March 27 with information missing, and further information was required after it was resubmitted.

The office said it had to perform checks after Mr Page was interviewed.

p Last week, the Advertiser stepped in to help Mrs Amanda Harriman, of Moulton Crescent, Balderton, get passports for herself and her children, Elliot, 19, Phoebe, 16, Olivia, 11, and Ruby, 3, so they could go on holiday to Benidorm on Monday.

The children’s passports have arrived after a nine-week wait, but as the Advertiser went to press yesterday Mrs Harriman was still waiting for her passport.