Smiles banned from passports

Britons have already been told to chop down shrubs and stock up on tinned food to counter the terrorist threat, but today the Government announced another extraordinary move in the name of security.

With immediate effect, no-one can be shown smiling in their passport photograph.

All passports issued from today must show the bearer "looking straight at the camera, with a neutral expression, with their mouth closed".

The strict rule will end the tradition of cheesy grins and silly expressions on passport snaps. The Home Office said the move was essential to fight fraud and keep terrorists out of the country.

It is needed because from next year, every new passport will include a microchip storing a digital image of the holder.

Hi-tech equipment at airports will scan the faces of travellers entering Britain and match them with the information on their passports. The highly sensitive machines operate by matching key points on the face, which means individuals must have their lips tightly together in their photo.

A Home Office spokeswoman confirmed: "It's about having a closed mouth. An openmouthed smile will throw the scanner off."

A restrained grin is acceptable, officials confirmed, but even the slightest flash of teeth could pose a problem for the equipment.

Existing passports are not affected until they come up for renewal. While the new rules come into effect at once, passport chiefs said they would "exercise some flexibility" for the next few months.

A tightly worded new rulebook says all passport applicants must submit two identical photos taken in the past six months, on normal photo paper and 35mm by 45mm in size. Pictures should be close-ups of the applicant's head, looking straight at the camera and filling between 70 and 80 per cent of the frame. The background must be plain white, cream or light grey.

Photo booth companies have been forced to update all their machines to ensure that the pictures are acceptable under the new rules. The Home Office said its requirements were in line with new international standards for biometric face-recognition schemes.

Bernard Herdan, chief executive of the UK Passport Service, said: " These new guidelines are an important step in the development of the new biometric ePassport and use of facial-recognition technology that will be used in 2005 as part of the ongoing fight against fraud and international terrorism."