Devastated mum missed family holiday to Cuba from Manchester after losing son's passport

A devastated mum who flew into Manchester Airport from Northern Ireland has told of how she missed out on a family holiday to Cuba after losing her son's passport. Sarah McConnell, 40, had planned to jet off from Manchester on Monday morning (July 5) - but was instead left stranded after misplacing the vital document.

She had flown from Belfast to Manchester Airport on Sunday night in preparation for the trip but the family are now stuck as they cannot fly back to Northern Ireland without alternative documents for her son Corey, the Echo reported.

Faced with being forced to get a ferry back to Belfast instead, Sarah forked out £100 on a taxi from Manchester to Liverpool passport office on Monday morning in the hope of getting a new passport sorted. She says she was told she could not get an emergency document because she was in the UK and not abroad.

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Stood frustrated outside the Liverpool passport office, she said: "We were meant to be going to Cuba for a holiday but now we can't even get back home. They don't offer you any help over the phone or anything.

"I couldn't get through. I just kept getting cut off and there was no helpline. I just need to talk to someone who can give me some advice. I've been queueing for over an hour but others have been here since 6am. No one wants to take responsibility.”

The mum was unable to apply for an emergency travel document because she is in the UK rather than abroad. She added: “We don't even have coats because we didn't expect to be in Liverpool, we expected to be in Cuba."

Sarah was not alone, as dozens of people queued up outside the passport office on