A man waited in a queue "all day" to get his granddaughter's passport so he can take her to Disneyland for her birthday.
Simon Cross, 62, is from Coventry but ended up at Liverpool's passport office earlier this week after being sent around the country in a hectic bid to get his granddaughter a passport in time for their trip to Disneyland Paris. The grandad arrived in Liverpool on Tuesday, where he waited "all day" before being told to drive over 100 miles back home and come back on Thursday.
Simon was still in the queue at Liverpool's passport office on Friday afternoon when he told the ECHO: "I was first told to go to London from Coventry for an interview, so I went down there and was told that I couldn't be seen so I was sent home. I was then told that it'd be issued to me by Friday of last week.
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"Then I got a note saying to take the birth certificates we need to Bootle. So I went to Bootle and they wouldn't let me in there.
"They then told me to come down here. That was on Monday.
"So on Monday I came and had to stay overnight at a hotel. I stayed all day Tuesday and was then told that they're not doing it today.
"They told me to go home and then come back on Thursday. I turned up at 8 in the morning and stood from 8am to 6am, and then at 6am I was only 5 people from the front before I was told that's it, they didn't have space for me.
"I had to stay over again last night. I came back down this morning at 6am and the queue was already down the ramp and I've been here ever since.
"We're due to travel on Saturday night. We're going to Disneyland Paris, it's for my granddaughter for her birthday. She's eight.
"I was fine, but that was before we moved around the corner and realised the queue was so much bigger. It's snakes and ladders. You get to the top and have to come all the way back down again.
"There's no anger yet, I'm sure that will come though. I just have to do it.
"I'd do anything for her. It's not for me it's for her. I don't care if I go blind."
Simon was one of many - almost 200 - waiting to sort their passport on Friday. Justin Deigh, 25, who lives in Liverpool, was another.
Justin, who was stood at the back of the queue, told the ECHO that he hadn't moved an inch, despite being there for over an hour waiting to get a new passport to allow him to fly out to Barcelona to attend the Primavera music festival which him and his friends arranged to see months ago.
Justin had already bought the tickets for the flight and for the festival when he told the ECHO: "I'm not 100% sure what's going on. I'm just kind of following the crowd.
"I'm flying out to Barcelona on Tuesday. I lost my passport but first tried to get it sorted at the end of March or Early April, but it didn't work out.
"This is my last chance to try and get one after all this bureaucracy. Fingers crossed I'll be able to get in but I don't know because the guy at the door said I might not be able to.
"But I'm going to give it a shot anyway."
Another person waiting, who asked to be left unnamed, said she was on her third day of waiting from when the doors open until when they close. She said: "There has been people here since 5am this morning who've just been turned away. They got in, went to see someone, then were told that because they're not travelling in 24 hours they couldn't be seen. Miserable."
"Last week they said they couldn't see me on Friday. Then there were five of us left last night before they turned us away."
The delays are likely due to a massive increase in passport requests made this year from last year. It is expected that just shy of 10m passports will be applied for this year- up 100% from last year's 5m.
Post-Brexit travel rules have also exacerbated the crisis, as holidaymakers need to have at least three months validity on their passports.
Home Office minister Kevin Foster said his advice remains unchanged and anyone heading overseas this summer should submit new passport applications and renewals as soon as possible. But he added in the House of Commons: "We are making a range of efforts - staff are working weekends, incentivised overtime - and certainly we're confident we will not need to change the 10-week target."
