PASSPORT office red tape means that six-year-old Paige Stagg may be forced to stay at home in Marlborough when the rest of her family jet off to the sun.

Mum Dawn Stagg has booked a week in Majorca for herself and children Jo, 14, Kieren, nine, Paige and Charlie-Jo, four.

They all have their own passports except Paige, but the UK Passport Service has refused to issue her one because she is included on her father Wayne's passport.

Mrs Stagg has not seen her ex-husband for more than three years and inquiries to try and locate him have been without success.

She said "Trying to get hold of him has been like looking for a needle in a haystack. I don't even know if he is in this country."

Mrs Stagg, who is employed at Marlborough College, added: "Not only have they said they will not issue a passport for Paige because she is already on one, they have left it to me to track down my husband and get him to surrender his passport.

"His passport runs until 2008 and only then, after it's expired, will they issue a new passport for Paige."

Devizes MP Michael Ancram is looking into the problem for Mrs Stagg and is waiting to hear from the passport service.

The service itself told the Gazette that it could not discuss individual cases but confirmed that if a child was included on a parent's passport they could not be issued with one of their own.

The spokesman said: "If the mother would write to us setting out the precise circumstances then we will look at the application again in the light of what she tells us."

Children could be included on one or both of their parents' passports up to October 1998, but after then they had to be issued with their own passport.