A MOTHER looking forward to taking her kids on their "first holiday" may not be able to go after her son's passport failed to arrive.

Rebecca Weeden, a mother from Poole, was meant to go on a holiday to Majorca with her husband and two kids aged seven and five, this Tuesday. 

But the family, who received three of their renewed within four to eight weeks, has yet to receive the final one for their son, despite applying 11 weeks ago.

The devastated mother has been "losing sleep" at the thought of telling her kids they cannot go on holiday and losing over £2500.

Rebecca has spent hours on the phone with the passport office, becoming increasingly frustrated after being "repeatedly lied to". 

The Home Office said it has seen increased demand due to five million people in the country delaying passport applications due to the pandemic.

READ MORE: Delays to passports over backlog at Passport Office

Rebecca said: "The whole situation is a shambles.

"The government advises people to allow up to 10 weeks for passport renewals, we have been waiting 11 weeks and still have no idea where the passport is. 

"Somebody on the phone lied to us and said the passport was just waiting to be printed. I knew that was a lie because you get emails with updates and I haven't had any since May. 

"This morning I phoned again and I was explaining how frustrated I was after receiving different information from different people and they laughed and said 'well they are just trying to get you off the phone'.

"I have done everything and anything possible to try and get the passport and I'm having to deal with people laughing at me, it's not a funny situation when I'm losing over £2500."

"I was also informed that they are working through them by dates of travel. So the closer the date it is to someone travelling the higher priority they become, but we are due to fly on Tuesday I still have heard nothing back.

"My husband has been thinking about one of us taking just our daughter and then just paying for a one way flight if the passport was to come a day or two late so that one of us can go with our son.

"We are just so frustrated with the whole situation and that no one can answer honestly what is happening with our passport."

A HM Passport Office spokesperson said: “Staff are processing approximately 250,000 passport applications each week and between March and May 98.5% of applications were completed within 10 weeks. But we cannot compromise security checks and people should apply with plenty of time prior to travelling.

“Since April 2021, we’ve clearly stated that people should allow up to ten weeks when applying for their passport to factor in the increased demand, which has seen 5 million people delay their passport application due to the pandemic. An expedited service is available at no additional cost to help the small percentage of people whose applications take longer than ten weeks to receive their passports before they travel.”