Paul Knight, 58, applied for a passport more than three months ago after he lost his old one. 

But things took an unexpected turn when his brother-in-law passed away in Greece three weeks ago – and Mr Knight was unable to attend the funeral as his passport had still not arrived. 

Read more: Delays to passports over backlog at Passport Office

More than 35,000 people have been left waiting longer than 10 weeks to receive a new passport, Home Office data revealed in June.

Mr Knight has been waiting longer than that. He said: “Just over three months ago I applied for a new passport after losing my old one. 

“A month after I applied, I spent four days trying to contact them, but it was impossible. 

Mr Knight was left "completely gutted" after missing his brother-in-law's funeral

“Another month went by, I contacted Sir Christopher Chope MP to try and move it forward a bit, but it didn’t help.” 

Mr Knight’s brother-in-law passed away in Greece last month and he was unable to fly to Greece as his passport still hadn’t arrived. 

“I wanted to get out there to attend the funeral for my sister,” he added. 

“I contacted the Passport Office once again and still I had not got anywhere. 

“I’m now here with my 95-year-old mother in the UK and I have missed the funeral. 

“I’m completely gutted. I haven’t had an apology, I’ve been neglected.” 

Mr Knight claims he made several attempts to get hold of the Passport Office, but described it as “almost impossible” to get in contact with somebody, adding: “They were talking about it in the House of Commons so they were aware they had a terrible situation that needed addressing. 

“If the Passport Office was a private company, they would be bankrupt.  

“I’ve sent so many emails and so many phone calls , but I’m going round in circles. 

“I even sent an email to the Prime Minister, but he was quite busy saving himself." 

The Daily Echo contacted the Passport Office, but they did not respond.