A family could be set to spend their summer holiday apart this year because of the ongoing crisis at the Passport Office.

As many as 25,000 people are reported to be stuck in a ‘backlog’ of applicants with hundreds missing out on holidays and even family weddings.

The Roche family from Walthamstow have already waited eight weeks for their daughter’s passport.

In May Clare Roche booked a trip to Portugal for her and her family. She also sent off an application for her daughter’s first passport.

However, not only has it not yet arrived, the documents she sent have been lost.

The 40-year-old of Turner Road said that she is extremely frustrated with the process with three weeks until they are due to fly.

She said: “You can’t talk to anyone and they can’t talk to each other, they say they can only email.

“It’s madness.”

For more on this story see next week's Waltham Forest Guardian and Chingford Guardian - out Thursday.