AFTER living in Britain for 53 years, marrying an Englishman and giving birth to five children here, Alicja Bolton has been told she has no right to a British passport.

The 57-year-old has been working in England since leaving school, as well as paying British taxes and national insurance, but has only just discovered she is classed as an alien.

The Home Office says she has never applied for British citizenship, which is essential if she is to be issued with a passport.

Alicja, who has 13 grandchildren all living in Britain, had no idea she was considered as an immigrant until she applied for a passport for the first foreign holiday of her life.

She had never been able to afford to go abroad before because she spent most of her working life providing for her children.

But she became very anxious three days before she was due to fly to Turkey and her new passport had not yet arrived.

"After phoning the Home Office and the passport office in Wales, I eventually got a letter from the Belfast passport office saying they couldn't issue me with a passport because I was an alien.

"I couldn't believe it I was shocked," she said.

Alicja, who lives in Cromer Court, Liden, came to Britain as a Polish immigrant with her mother and brother in 1947 when she was four.

The family were shunted around various Polish camps in England until they settled in Bath.

In 1960 she married an English-man, but divorced in 1973 and moved with her children to Swindon two years later to give them a fresh start.

Swindon has a strong Polish community which celebrated its 50th birthday earlier this year. There are more than 1,000 Poles in the town and a Polish Community Centre.

Since arriving in Swindon Alicja has held various jobs and is currently working as a warehouse operator at the WH Smith in Greenbridge.

She applied for her passport in spring, has visited the Home Office twice since, and has now commissioned a solicitor to take up her case.

"Not only did I lose £350 on my holiday to Turkey, but my friend wanted to treat me to a holiday in France in September as a birthday present, and I couldn't go."

Home Office spokesman James Sorene said Alicja's case was a very unusual one because she had not left the country for 53 years and the matter of her citizenship had not come to light before.

"It used to be that immigrants who married a British citizen had automatic right to British citizenship, but changed on January 1, 1949, and spouses now have to apply," he said.

"If Alicja was to leave the country using a Polish passport it would be highly unlikely she wouldn't be able to re-enter, by virtue of the length of time she has been living here.

"To get a British passport she would now have to apply to the Home Office for citizenship, and although this can sometimes be a lengthy process someone who has been here 53 years should not have much of a problem."