A STUDENT has slammed bungling council staff who wrongly posted her passport to a man living 10 miles away.

The 45-year-old from Haslingden applied for student finance towards a foundation degree in teaching and learning at Accrington College.

She sent off personal documents to Lancashire County Council, including her passport, to prove her identification.

But her passport was posted back to a man in Little Harwood, Blackburn.

His daughter had contacted the council about the possibility of funding while she studied for a degree at the University of Central Lancashire.

The woman’s passport was returned to her by the Blackburn man.

Council chiefs have apologised for the mistake and said they were investigating ‘so it doesn’t happen again’.

The woman, who asked not be named because other personal documents were still to be returned to her, said: “I didn’t know that my things had gone to someone else until the gentleman who received my passport contacted me.

“I still haven’t got my other documents back though, so I am worried that they could have fallen into the wrong hands.

"I am angry, but relieved and grateful that the man has been so honest.”

The Little Harwood man who received the passport said it was ‘a disgrace’.

“If it had fallen into the hands of someone else there could have been a different outcome,” he said.