IS it really necessary to force a 77-year-old woman to go all the way to Blackburn for a passport interview?
That was the question asked by Marton pensioner, Annie Johnson – who suffers from high blood pressure and arthritis in her knees – when she tried to get herself some proof of identity.
Introduced in a bid to cut down on identity theft and as a gua
rd against potential terrorists last June, first-time applicants now have to be interviewed before they can get their little red booklet.
But Mrs Johnson is now questioning the need for the process after she paid £72 for her new passport after deciding she needed some proof of identity.
With banks and solicitors to deal with, Mrs Johnson desperately needed the passport but was told she had to make the 27 mile journey from Blackpool.
"I haven't got a car," she said.
"And it's very difficult for me to get the train or the bus on my own."
"It makes it very difficult for someone like me and I'm hardly going to be a terrorist or a con man am I? The whole thing seems ridiculous."
Unable to walk long distances, unsteady on her feet and currently awaiting tests for suspected Parkinson's disease, Annie believes the process should now be re-thought and judged case-by-case.
She says long journeys are too much for some pensioners who could be put off applying for a passport.
"I don't think there is any need to interview every single person," she said.
"I hope what has happened to me will highlight how silly and unnecessary it is."
Mrs Johnson isn't the first Fylde resident to find themselves tied up in bureaucracy on the hunt for a passport.
German-born Sylvia Jeffrey faced the challenge of proving her father's identity before she could be given a British passport to take a first foreign holiday at the age of 58.
When the new rules were introduced last year, the Government set up 69 centres across the UK, to deal with interviews in hope of cracking down on attempts to falsify passports.
Identity fraud is said to cost the country an estimated £1.7bn a year.
Around 600,000 new applicants are now set to be interviewed each year by the Identity and Passport Service (IPS) who claim the interviews are vital in tackling ID fraud.
The full article contains 406 words and appears in Blackpool Gazette newspaper.
