Guernsey's Border Agency cuts opening hours as passport pressures mount

Urgent appointments can still be made with officers outside of these hours but they are asking people to use postal applications where possible and only get in touch if absolutely necessary. Credit: ITV Channel TV

Guernsey's Border Agency is cutting its public opening hours as it battles a backlog in passport applications.

A spike in submissions as travel restrictions ease combined with changing rules post-Brexit and staff being off due to Covid has made the problem worse.

All counter services including customs and excise and disclosure and vetting will only run between 8:45am and midday for a week from Monday 14 March before the situation is reviewed.

The agency hope that reducing this strain on its staff will allow them to prioritise processing passports.

Guernsey's Head of Law Enforcement Ruari Hardy said: "We have a number of staff who have been working incredibly hard in this area for a sustained period of time to try and work through the backlog of applications we have. However that backlog is continuing to grow.

"We know that reducing the opening hours of the counter is not ideal for everyone, and as such we will be keeping a close eye on the opening times and altering them to best suit the public."

Urgent appointments can still be made with officers outside of these hours but they are asking people to use postal applications where possible and only get in touch if absolutely necessary.