A family's £11,000 holiday has been thrown into doubt due to passport delays.
Ben Harris-Shaw, 39, has been looking forward to his first trip abroad in four years with his parents, sister, brother-in-law and his three children.
The bank manager has spent the past two years planning their trip to Spain's Costa del Sol on July 28.
But their £11,500 trip is now in jeopardy as his son Sonny's passport has still not arrived more than 12 weeks after the renewal was submitted.
"You can’t go and apply for one on the day when you’ve already got an application in, and we’re just in limbo," he told The Star.
"Sonny’s 15 now and we won’t be able to afford to go for another couple of years, and he probably won’t want to go with his family then so this could be his last family holiday.
"I don’t think they understand how much stress this situation causes people. I suffer from anxiety, and I had gone off my medication, but I’ve had to start taking it again because of all this."
HM Passport Office states that the service has been facing "unprecedented demand" this year.
More than five million people delayed their passport applications during the pandemic when restrictions on international travel were in place.
But official guidance still states that the "vast majority of all passport applications are being dealt with well within 10 weeks."
Ben submitted passport renewal applications for his son Sonny and daughter Stevie on April 23 ahead of the family's holiday three months later.
The single dad received his new passport in May and claims he was asked to send copies of Stevie and Sonny's birth certificates to the Passport Office which he did on May 3.
He sent the documents in separate envelopes, each with their own reference number.
But while his daughter's new passport arrived weeks later, his son's was allegedly not received or processed leading Ben to send another copy via recorded delivery on June 23.
Despite the Passport Office signing for Sonny's birth certificate four days later, Ben is worried that his son's new passport will to arrive in time for the family's much-anticipated holiday.
He told how it is causing friction in the family and said they cannot go without his son who will be devastated.
The dad claims he keeps calling the Passport Office to be told it will be fine and to wait 14 days before the flight when Sonny's application will be eligible for express process.
He has also contacted his MP Clive Betts to ask for his assistance in expediting the application.
Mr Betts told The Star that Sonny’s application is just one of 16 his office are currently looking into.
He described the situation as "a disgrace" and said "they should have been more prepared" suggesting there is a lack of staff plus agency workers who "don't understand what they're doing."
A spokesperson for the Passport Office told The Mirror: “Between March and May, we processed approximately three million applications with 97.7% of applications processed within that timeframe in the first half of the year.
"But we cannot compromise security checks and people should apply with plenty of time prior to travelling.
“For the small percentage of customers whose applications take longer than ten weeks, there is an expedited service at no additional cost to help ensure that they receive their passport ahead of their travel.”
