A GROO'O-BE, who plans to marry his long term partner on Saturday, claims he was given the run-around by postal chiefs after Royal Mail lost his passport just days before his dream honeymoon on safari in Africa.

Oliver Slade, 29, of Clovelly Drive, Penwortham, had his wedding holiday plans thrown into chaos when his passport failed to arrive after being posted by Kenyan embassy officials in London where he had applied for a visa.

To be certain the passport would arrive on time Oliver paid for officials to send the document by recorded delivery along with that of his 26-year-old girlfriend Julia Browne.

But the couple did not receive the travel documents and had to take time off work to get new passports from the regional office in Liverpool -- costing them £160 -- before applying for visas a second time.

Now Oliver is fuming with Royal Mail bosses after being compensated just £27 for the blunder.

Oliver said: "I rang up Kenya House in London. They confirmed sending them recorded delivery, but we never received them. I rang Royal Mail and they admitted they'd lost them. This was ten days before we were due to go."

With just days to spare, the couple's passports have arrived rubber stamped with visas. Oliver said: "We've received a letter from Royal Mail claiming full responsibility for the loss and a cheque for £27. This is no match for the time and inconvenience this has caused.

"It's unbelievable. We took every step to ensure our honeymoon would go smoothly."

A spokesman from Royal Mail said: "We have done our best to find the passports. We've apologised for the inconvenience this has caused and sent Mr Slade a cheque for £27 -- the maximum compensation payable for the loss of a recorded delivery item."

"We would advise customers to use our special delivery service when sending passports or anything of value as its a guaranteed service."

After their wedding in Poulton, near Blackpool, the couple intend to fly from Manchester to Heathrow on Monday before jetting off to Nairobi where they plan to stay in the Treetops resort.