Dad refused travel on £4,000 holiday after 'airport staff tore his passport' leaving kids in tears
A UK dad was left devastated as he was forced to stay at home while his tearful family jetted off on a £4,000 TUI holiday after he claims airport staff damaged his passport.
While many of us simply fall foul of suitcase weight restrictions, the number one rule to follow when you're preparing to travel is making sure your passport is good to go.
There are plenty of rules Brits need to be wary of when travelling with a passport, whether it's blue or red, as having one that is due to expire soon could land you in seriously hot water abroad.
Jimmy Gould was due to travel to Lanzarote, Spain with his girlfriend and his three children when disaster struck at East Midlands airport, as he claims that a member of the boarding staff removed a sticker from his passport which led to a 10mm tear.
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While this might seem small, it was enough to cover part of the 48-year-old's face and check-in staff confirmed that it was 'damaged', so he couldn't board and was sent home, while the rest of his travelling party jetted off without him.
TUI has insisted its agents at East Midlands airport are trained not to remove stickers off passports themselves, but confirmed that holidaygoers with passports that had stickers on them wouldn't be allowed to travel.
Jimmy, who lives in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, said: "It's a total nightmare and I'm absolutely fuming.
"I'm sitting home alone while they're in Lanzarote gutted and they all want to come home because of the situation.
"One year [passport officials] put a sticker on the duplicate photo page. I've been away for six or seven years with no problem at all.
"I got to the airport and passed all the passports over and [a staff member] pulled the sticker straight off and she ripped the page. It's a tiny little tear.
"She literally ripped my passport in front of us all and said 'you can't go'. I can't believe she just sat there and ripped my passport instead of giving me the option to tear it off properly so she wouldn't have marked it.
"She looked at me and said 'this one's damaged and you can't use this passport now'. It's a tiny mark and the other page is fine. My kids started crying once they realised their dad couldn't go. They want their dad there. It's just terrible and I'm absolutely devastated.
"I was so excited to make memories with my family this summer. My daughter is seven and I should be playing in the pool with her but instead I'm stuck at home on my own. They're miserable wanting their dad there. We have one holiday a year and you get excited."
Jimmy was unsuccessful in his attempt to secure an emergency passport and has been forced to completely miss out on the trip, while partner Zowie has also said that the holiday was ruined because of her partner's absence.
She added: "The holiday has been ruined. The experience has been awful as we never go anywhere unless we're together.
"I'm anxious and worried about being in a foreign country on my own with three children and it has totally changed the atmosphere.
"All that money wasted and all the months saving to go away together to end up apart."
LADbible has contacted TUI for a comment.
Topics: Travel
James Moorhouse