Whiteley mum forced to go to Glasgow for emergency passport

Carolyn Pellatt, 57, of Whiteley, shared her cautionary tale to prevent others making the same mistake she did when she realised passports with six months or less until the expiry date are invalid.

She said: "I thought to myself, 'oh my word I don't think I will be able to go on holiday'. I was trying to work out who to contact to find out if my thought that my passport was no longer valid was actually true.

"Although the passport technically only would expire in January this year, I couldn't travel in less than six months."

Strangely, the last day she could have used the passport was the day she checked it.

Right to left: Carolyn, 57, her mum Jean, 79, and Hannah, 30 (Image: Provided)

With five days to go until the mum-of-two's week-long cruise to the Norwegian Fjords with daughter Hannah, 31, and mum Jean, 79, departing on July 1 last year from Southampton, Carolyn had to book an emergency appointment to get a new passport.

But this was all the way in Glasgow, hundreds of miles away.

On Thursday, only two days before the trip, she took a train from Southampton to Glasgow with two changes at Birmingham and Carlisle - costing a whopping £200 in train fares.

Added to the extra to collect the passport £195, the mum had a bill of almost £400.

She said: "I could have been delayed on two changes going up. Had those trains been delayed by half an hour each I would have been late to the appointment, so the pressure was definitely on."

Right to left: Carolyn, 57, her Hannah, 30 (Image: Provided)

Carolyn came back home the same day with her new passport in tow and thankfully was able to set sail on holiday.

Since Brexit in 2018, UK passports are now treated differently for EU and Schengen travel. Adult passports' issue date must be less than 10 years old, and children's less than 5 years old, on the departure date.

Additionally, there must be at least 3 months left on the passport before you return home.

Looking back she said: "I have told my friends since then, to check your passports before going on holiday. Don't make the same mistake as me. The extra two to six months - don't count on it."

Travel expert Simon Calder said: “You might appear to have months of validity left, but I’ve heard many sad stories from holidaymakers who have had their dream trip ruined because they didn’t know about the ’10-year rule.’"