WHAT a fiasco the new passport system is. There didn't appear to be any real attempt to give prior warning to the public. There should have been a big publicity campaign last year.

Why wasn't the system even delayed until 2000 so that travellers had plenty of time to get their passports? It could have been phased in gradually.

What a ridiculous idea anyway for even babies to have their own passports, valid for five years.

The child's appearance will become unrecognisable in that time and it won't prevent unauthorised people taking children abroad.

It is just another money-making imposition on the public.

It is also wrong for the Government to blame the computer system, as there is even a limit to the computers' capabilities.

How much has the incompetence of this Agency cost the tax payers in loss of work, travel expenses, stress, lost holidays, plus the extra staff and overtime at the Agency and now in compensating people for lost holidays?

To cover these costs, no doubt passport charges will increase next year.

No-one seems to be blamed for major disasters due to incompetence. They either retire or carry on as normal - the one who always picks up the tab is the public.

KATHLEEN BULCOCK (Mrs), Wilkie Avenue, Burnley.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.