Smile costs family £3,000 holiday

A family had to scrap a £3,000 holiday after their youngest daughter's passport photograph was rejected - because she was smiling.

Gareth and Lesley Edwards saved for months to go to Cyprus with children Megan, ten, and Alys, nine, reports the Sun.

But the night before they were due to fly out, Lesley, 46, realised she was the only one with a valid passport.

Travel agents booked them on to a flight a few days later and the family quickly filled out passport application forms and had photos taken.

But when he reached the Passport Office, in Peterborough, officials said their machine would not accept Alys's photograph.

Lesley said: "They told Gareth that because Alys's teeth were clearly visible the photograph was not acceptable."

Gareth, 47, got another picture of Alys taken and rushed it to Peterborough from their home in Grays, Essex, but got there too late.

A Home Office spokesman said: "The new biometric passports carry a scan of the holder's face. In this instance the machine which takes the biometric image would have rejected the girl's photo because her mouth was open."