PLANS to make tens of thousands of passport applicants in the North-East travel to Newcastle or Middlesbrough for interviews were condemned last night.

The centres are part of a network of 69 offices announced by the Identity and Passport Service yesterday.

The estimated 31,000 people in the region who want to travel abroad for the first time will have to undergo an interview lasting up to 20 minutes to prove who they are.

The scheme will initially only be for new applicants, but eventually the procedure will be extended to everyone renewing a passport.

The Home Office says it is part of a drive to stop fraudulent claims, but critics say it is a step towards "Big Brother-style" identity cards linked to computer databases containing extensive personal information.

And under the proposals Durham City, which has a Passport Office, will not be used for the interviews, leaving people without cars facing long and expensive bus journeys.

In North Yorkshire, people wanting a first passport - up to 9,000 every year - will be given a choice of travelling to Northallerton, Scarborough or York.

Liberal Democrat-controlled Durham City Council has voted to affiliate the no2id campaign fighting the Government, which has won approval for the introduction of the cards after a long battle.

The council's cabinet member for environment and leisure, Carol Woods, who has contested the city's seat in two general elections, said: "I don't think anyone believes it will stop terrorism or illegal immigration and the Government has a terrible track record on large IT projects - and this one will be huge."

The Government announced in December 2004 that it would interview adult first-time passport applicants from late 2006.

The move will affect those who have never held a British passport in their own name. It will not include people who held a passport as a child, but will apply to those whose names were included on a parent's passport.

The Home Office says 75 per cent of passport fraud involves first-time adult applicants and about 1,500 attempted bogus applications were made last year.

Now the identities of all new applicants will be checked against the register of electors. During the interviews, applicants will be asked to confirm facts about themselves, such as present and former addresses.

A Home Office spokesman said: "There are people posting in as many bogus applications as they like, often from abroad, which makes it very difficult to arrest them.

"People will be asked to confirm basic information about themselves which someone attempting to steal their identity may not know, such as their previous addresses."

He added that the locations of the offices had been chosen to ensure almost everyone lived within a one-hour drive.

Applicants will normally be offered an interview within four days - or the next day if a slot is available at an office further afield.