3,000 blank passports are stolen from van

The Foreign Office today admitted a serious breach of security took place after blank passports destined for British embassies were stolen.

A spokeswoman said 24 parcels containing blank passports and vignettes - the blank stickers for visa stamps - were taken from a van en route from a factory in Oldham to RAF Northolt.

It was reported 3,000 documents were stolen, but the spokeswoman was unable to confirm this number.

She said the incident was being investigated by Greater Manchester Police, and the Home Office and Identity and Passport Service had taken " preventative action" to guard against forgeries.

"The van was hijacked en route from the production site," she said.

The documents had been produced at Oldham-based company 3M Security Printing and Systems, and contained "security features" which would make them unusable.

Reports said that the passports were the new electronic type containing a chip replicating the data printed on the document itself.