PEOPLE applying for or renewing passports have been warned by Trading Standards to take care if they are planning to do it online.

North Yorkshire County Council’s Trading Standards officers have said some passport application sites charge a fee equal to, and on top of, the official fee so the passport ends up costing double the amount it should.

The firms operating the websites offer a check-and-send service for a fee, but they are not linked to the Passport Office in any way - they simply check whether the application has been completed correctly before sending it on.

Trading Standards officers advise that people should consider whether a friend or relative could double-check the form, but if they would rather use a paid-for service they should research the charges at different firms.

At the lower end, the Post Office charges a few pounds for the service, and private company fees vary but can be ten times that amount. People who qualify for a free passport also qualify for a free check-and-send service from the Post Office.

When applying for any government documentation such as passports people should go directly to the official website www.gov.uk, and not follow links to sites using web addresses featuring suffixes such as .org.uk; .net; or .co.uk.

County Councillor Chris Metcalfe said: “We’ve had a steady stream of complaints from people applying for passports during this summer season who have been charged unnecessarily large sums of money for a passport application checking service. We would advise people to be very cautious and stick to the official government site.”

Anyone who feels they have been misled by such a site can obtain advice by ringing the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 08454-040506.