Renewing my passport was so much easier by picking a different option

Summer is almost here, with many Brits counting down to their holidays. However, before boarding planes, hopping on ferries or getting on the Eurostar, it is vital to do a passport check.

I recently planned my summer holiday, but realised my passport needed renewing before the trip. Since the UK left the European Union, entry rules to countries across Europe have changed.

Many holidaymakers get caught out by the rules, and if you are heading to Europe and Schengen countries, the passport must be issued less than 10 years before your departure date and be valid for at least three months after your planned return date.

Due to these rules, my passport was classed as out of date, and so I set out to get a new one. In previous years, I chose to renew my passport through a paper form at the Post Office.

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However, this time I decided to do it all online, which turned out to be cheaper and easier. It currently costs £102 to renew or replace your passport if you submit the forms online.

Otherwise, it costs £115.50 if you do it by paper. Another change that has made the process easier and faster is that passport photo booths now provide digital copies of your photo as well as a physical printout.

It means you get a digital code that links to your photo, so you simply enter it to upload it to the gov.uk website.

Once you have filled in your details and uploaded your photo on the UK Government website, you must return your old passport. I simply posted it to the address provided and waited for my new one to arrive.

The Passport Office says it typically takes three weeks to get your new passport.

They start working on your new one as soon as they receive your documents, so it is important to get your old passport sent off as soon as you can.

To my surprise, my new passport arrived in just one week after posting out my old one. The process was much easier and faster than I had expected.

Typically, the Passport Office warns that it could take longer to receive your passport in peak seasons.

It added: “It may take longer than three weeks if we need more information, or we need to interview you. We’ll tell you this within 3 weeks.”

However, from my own experience, I had no issues and would certainly choose to get my passport online in the future to save time and money.

A reader explains why there’s at least 20 other games this year that he cares about more than Rockstar Games’ blockbuster-in-waiting GTA 6.

If it doesn’t get delayed again, GTA 6 is going to be out on November 19 and as lots of people are pointing out at the moment, it is going to be everywhere. It’s going to be all anyone talks about for months and I literally don’t know if the world is ever going to be the same again. Which is a real shame because I don’t care about it, and I feel I’m missing out.

I haven’t got anything against GTA. I’ve played most of them, and Red Dead Redemption, but I find them very overhyped and with poor gameplay. The open worlds are impressive, no doubt, but I find them a bit aimless and overdone.

I know that as far as the majority are concerned I’m wrong but since I’m not trying to spoil anyone else’s fun I hope you’ll let me be. I’m not here to attack GTA 6 and instead I will list all the games coming out this year that I’m more interested in. Obviously, I won’t be able to get them all, or at least not straight away, but I will before I ever get GTA 6.

1. Forza Horizon 6

OK, I’m probably going to get some details wrong with this lot, because obviously I’ve not played any of them, but you can’t go wrong with a new Forza Horizon. The Japanese setting sounds great, the only problem is I can’t play it till it comes out on PlayStation 5, which is after the Xbox.

2. Lego Batman: Legacy Of The Dark Knight

I always find Lego games to be something fun I can play with my wife and this one has the benefit of apparently being quite a bit like the Arkham games, so that’s a definite bonus.

3. 007 First Light

Will still be waiting for the reviews for this one but all the positive previews have made very interested. I always like Bond and I also like the fact that this is obviously not a cash-in or a copy of GoldenEye 007.

4. Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls

I admit, I’d rather this was Marvel Vs. Capcom 4 but I’ll take it anyway. I like that they’ve used a Japanese developer and the designs actually show that, especially in the Gundam style Iron Man.

5. Phantom Blade 0

I’m not sure how much this is on other people’s radar, but I really like the look of this and the previews have all been very positive. Apparently it’s more like Devil May Cry than a Soulslike, despite what it looks like, but I’m still interested in it.

6. Star Wars: Galactic Racer

A new sequel to Star Wars Episode I: Racer is not something I expected to see this year, but I am absolutely here for it, especially as it’s by a bunch of UK developers that worked on Need For Speed and Burnout.

7. Marvel’s Wolverine

One of the big no-brainers of the year. The Spider-Man games have been pretty much perfect in my view and I have no doubt they’ll do just as good a job with Wolvie, who is a character I already like a lot more anyway.

8. Beast Of Reincarnation

Another not-so-obvious choice but this is the action role-player by Pokémon developer Game Freak and I really like the look of it. I’m a sucker for a good Soulslike, which I assume is what it basically is, and I like the Princess Mononoke vibe too.

9. Ace Combat 8: Wings Of Theve

Get the soundtrack of the year award ready because there’s a new Ace Combat out this year! I’m slightly surprised, because I never get the impression these sell all that well, but I love the games and their crazy plots.

10. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse

So this isn’t the big budget Castlevania revamp that everyone wants, and I really don’t know why Konami doesn’t make one, but I’ll take it anyway because it’s a 2D game by the team that did Dead Cells.

11. Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival

Perhaps I’m being a bit optimistic here, because it’s a Saber Interactive game and they’re a bit hit and miss. But I like how hardcore this seems to be in terms of both sex and violence, which will hopefully give Silent Hill a run for its money.

12. Silent Hill: Townfall

Speaking of which, Hellraiser may have its work cut out because the last two Silent Hill games have been fantastic, if you ask me, and this looks like it could continue the streak. Plus, it’s set in Scotland!

13. The Duskbloods

I’m cheating a bit with this one because I don’t have a Switch 2 (so there may be other Nintendo games on the way that I don’t know about) but if this is as good as From’s other stuff it could be the game that makes me buy one.

14. Fable

I don’t have an Xbox either but thanks to everything being multiformat nowadays I’ll be able to get this on the PlayStation 5. It depends on the reviews, but I still maintain I’m more interested in this than GTA 6.

15. Halo: Campaign Evolved

Although I’ve been a PlayStation owner most of my life, like most people I know I did have an Xbox 360 back in the day so I’m curious to see this and Gears Of War come back and be on Sony’s console. Even if I think it’s probably the wrong decision for Microsoft.

16. Gears Of War: E-Day

Personally, I always preferred Gears Of War to Halo but I understand this is a prequel, which suits me because I didn’t play the last two games. I hope it manages to have the same over-the-top feel as the old games, because the co-op in that was great.

17. Metro 2039

I was a big fan of Metro Exodus so it’s nice to see a new game. I have no idea if and when I’m going to have the time to play any of these games, because I’m sure this’ll be another massive one, but it’s definitely on my radar.

18. Mina The Hollower

This is the only indie game on my list, not because I don’t like them but because you never seem to hear about them until they’re out. This is the new one from the makers of Shovel Knight, so I’m very much looking forward to it.

19. Onimusha: Way Of The Sword

Capcom has been red hot all year and I don’t see any reason to expect this won’t be good too. Yes, we’d all prefer Dino Crisis but supernatural samurai horror is still very welcome in my book.

20. Star Wars Zero Company

As a big fan of XCOM I’m looking forward to this, even though I’ve never really liked the whole Clone Wars era. Anything that promotes big budget strategy games is fine by me though, especially turn-based.

By reader Futterman

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot.

Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

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If Leeds are able to retain their top-flight status, the majority of supporters are likely point to wins against relegation rivals Wolves, Burnley and West Ham as the defining moments of the season.

But Farke is almost certain to share a different view.

The 49-year-old is more likely to point to a 3-2 defeat by Manchester City in late November as the moment his side’s fortunes changed – and the numbers back it up.

After goals from Phil Foden and Josko Gvardiol put City 2-0 up inside 25 minutes, Leeds were left fearing the worst.

That was until Farke made an almighty roll of the dice, summoning Calvert-Lewin and defender Jaka Bijol from the bench to switch from a 4-3-3 to a 3-5-2.

It was a tactical switch that allowed Leeds an extra man in midfield and, crucially, offered extra support to summer signing Calvert-Lewin in attack.

Although Leeds saw a point snatched from their grasp when Foden scored a stoppage‑time winner, the performance – and a new tactical blueprint – offered both the club and Farke a road to redemption.

Leeds bounced back from the defeat against Pep Guardiola’s side by taking four points from a possible six against Chelsea and reigning champions Liverpool in the next two games.

“He was under real pressure, there was a lot of talk about his job – other managers were getting touted – and you felt if he lost against Manchester City he would lose his job,” said ex-Liverpool and Spurs midfielder Jamie Redknapp on Sky Sports.

“He didn’t win that game but they changed the system that day, played with a lot of promise and since then they’ve gone on a great run and gone from strength to strength.

“The points they’ve produced since the start of December has been fantastic.”

Since then, Leeds have lost only four out of a possible 19 league games – the ninth-best record in the division.

Consequently, Farke is on course to lead a team to Premier League survival for the first team in his career after failing to do so during his time in charge of Norwich.

This article was originally shared with subscribers to Bristol Live

She’s already being touted as the next big boxing superstar, has plans to fight for a world title within a year, and hasn’t lost any kind of fight since she was eight years old – but as Tiah Mai Ayton prepares for her next and biggest fight to date, she’s got other things on her mind.

The Kingswood teenager burst onto the scene last year, signed to Eddie Hearn’s famous Matchroom Boxing stable and was immediately touted as a future star.

She was just 18, still lived at home with her parents, and just as she had when she was a world champion kickboxer at the age of ten, still relied on them.

But the start of 2026 has seen big changes for the pocket rocket from east Bristol – she’s gained her independence. Not only has she turned 19, and passed her driving test, but she’s moved out of the family home, settling in a place of her own in Weston-super-Mare, close to the Weston Warriors gym she trains at.

She’s loving the independence, but not the location. “I live in Weston now, because my gym’s here, but my family all live in Bristol, so I’m always over in Bristol,” she said. “I wanna move back to Bristol though – I don’t like it here.”

Like thousands of her fellow Bristolians, who have moved from Bristol to Weston in recent years – it’s a bit of a demographic phenomenon – Tiah Mai Ayton faces a dilemma. Do you live near your work or face a commute? Tiah’s is in reverse though.

While most ex-pat Bristolians now in Weston face the commute back to the city every day, she’s moved to be closer to the gym – “It’s literally minutes away from me,” she said – but would rather be back around friends and family in Bristol.

Luckily, she passed her test a month or so ago, after several failed attempts. “It’s so much more free now, and all that,” she laughed.

Last time she stepped into a boxing ring was back in February at the Nottingham Arena. She beat up-and-coming Brazilian fighter Catherine Tacone Ramos on points in a narrow victory.

It was only her fifth professional fight, her fifth victory, but the first time she hadn’t ended the fight with a knock out.

Since then, she’s moved to a place of her own and passed her driving test – so will be going into the ring in front of thousands at the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton on Saturday having very much stepped into what young people these days call ‘adulting’.

She’s supremely confident about facing veteran Stevi Levy, disagreeing with the suggestion that fighting a 33-year-old seasoned pro who has won 15 fights and lost four will be her toughest challenge yet.

“No I don’t. I fought a Brazilian in my last fight, and I reckon she’ll be tougher than this fight. And I think I’ve had tough amateur fights. But Stevi’s a name and everything – she’s good. But I don’t reckon it’s going to be my hardest fight,” she said.

With all the talk of Tiah Mai Ayton’s prospects – boosted regularly by Eddie Hearn’s showmanship – it’s important to remember the 19-year-old has only fought five fights. And, because she generally knocks her opponent out or stops them within three or four rounds, she’s only boxed 22 rounds professionally in her entire career so far.

By contrast, Stevi Levy, a Norfolk-based fighter who has predominantly boxed in the north of England, has been boxing professionally for seven years, had 19 fights and gone through 123 rounds in the ring.

“I’ve been watching her, I’ve watched her fights,” explained Tiah Mai. “And she’s good, I give her credit and stuff, but I just think I’ve fought better people than her,” she added.

The fight will be televised live on boxing channel DAZN, and Tiah Mai said she’s often conscious of the crowds and the TV audience, until she gets in the ring.

“When I think about it before, I get all nervous, and I’m thinking ‘oh my God, there’s so many people there, there’s cameras and everything’,” she said.

“But as soon as you walk out and everything, you’re just so locked in and all you’re thinking about is the fight – you don’t really think about everyone else there,” she added.

Tiah Mai first graced the pages of the Bristol Post back in 2014, after she won the TFC Cadet British title as an eight-year-old kickboxer.

She’s one of four youngsters pictured on page 39 from the Cobra Kickboxing Club in Kingswood, holding a belt that’s almost as big as she is.

She started getting into martial arts and kickboxing at the age of six, and although she lost a couple of bouts when she started competing, the youngsters who beat her were soon seen off in return bouts.

Over the next few years, the Bristol Post reported her successes. In 2015, she won the WRSA European title at a tournament in France at the age of nine, alongside her sister Maddie and cousin Jamarie.

And by the age of 10, in early 2017, she was crowned world kickboxing champion for her weight, and got the full photocall experience.

Since the age of eight, and that first kickboxing success, she’s gone through her entire junior, amateur and now professional career without losing a single fight. Not one.

She transitioned from martial arts to traditional boxing in her mid-teens and never looked back, and can’t really remember what losing feels like.

Since turning pro at 18 and signing for Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, life has changed and everything is a lot more serious now, but Tiah said she’s loving every minute, although her new fame is a bit baffling.

“It’s amazing to be honest,” she said. “I’m so grateful for all the opportunities that I’ve had. But it is so much better than amateurs, being pro. Everything I thought of, it is all just gone how I thought it would go, the knockouts and all that, and reels and everything. So, it is great,” she added.

“When I go out and stuff, I get recognised and people ask for photos. And it’s weird, because it’s just…I just still look at me and I’m just Tiah. I just do this cause I love it. I don’t do it for money or anything. I just do it because I love boxing and I’m just good at it.

“And then I feel like my life has changed because like now I’ve got my own place, I’ve moved away from my parents and all that. And so, I’ve had good opportunities come with it all,” she added.

The boxing world is sitting up and taking notice. At the end of 2025, she made history after becoming the first woman fighter ever to be named as the UK Prospect of the Year by boxing bible Boxing News

When she turned pro, Tiah Mai Ayton told the world she had three ambitions – to fight at Madison Square Garden, the iconic New York venue, to be world champion, and to fight at Ashton Gate – her family are all big Bristol City fans.

Ironically, she’s already done the latter, albeit as a child in a junior event in the concourse. The dream would be to fight for the world title on the pitch, cheered on by thousands.

Tiah said she laments not having fought in Bristol at all in her pro career so far – despite the city’s famous boxing pedigree, there is a distinct lack of venues.

Often the biggest boxing nights in Bristol for up and coming fighters are at the temporarily converted underground service yard underneath The Galleries shopping centre. It’s not somewhere Tiah Mai Ayton is desperately keen to appear.

“I wouldn’t mind doing something like fighting overseas, I think that’d be a good experience, but nothing beats English crowds.” she said.

“I would love to fight in Bristol. I’ve got loads of people that support me. so it would be great, because it is hard for people to travel nowadays, with the money and that,” she added.

She’s already a name for the bill for the TV companies, and is what they call in the sport ‘a draw’ – because she has the rare punching power among women fighters to deliver a knock-out blow. But what is it actually like to have that power? Boxing is pretty much the only sport where the aim is to hurt the opponent and render them unable to continue.

“Sometimes it’s different. One time I dropped someone and then I heard my coach shouting ‘don’t rush’, so I thought ‘ok’, I just took my time, I didn’t go running at her. Sometimes it’s like that, and I take my time more because I want to get the rounds.

“But then other times, if I know I’ve hurt them, and it’s getting closer to the end of the round, and I know I could stop them and get them out of there, I just think ‘oh I might as well just do it’.

“It’s just… when you fight, you just know when you could stop someone. And sometimes people smile at you when you hurt them and that’s how you know. You know that that landed… like that landed good,” she added.

Her trajectory might seem rapid, but that’s often the case for women fighters. “Females move (up) a lot quicker than males,” she explained.

“Because in men’s boxing you have journeymen, then you have the middle, then you have the top. But with women, it’s just journeywomen, and it’s just top women, there’s no middle. So women get pushed a lot quicker and there’s not a lot of female fighters. So I’ll probably be fighting for a title, hopefully this year and maybe a world title at the start of next year,” she added.

First, she’s got to beat Stevi Levy, and then see what happens.

Actor James Cartwright has spoken for the first time since he was seen bowing out of the ITV soap in dramatic fashion

Coronation Street star James Cartwright has spoken for the first time since he was seen bowing out of the long-running show as Theo Silverton.

His time on the ITV soap has been nothing short of dramatic, but on Friday (May 1) night, the villain was seen meeting a deadly end as he was revealed as the victim of a shock murder on the famous cobbles.

Fans will recall that actor James joined Corrie in March last year in the role of builder Theo, and as those who watch know, he quickly found himself involved in a hard-hitting, coercively controlling, and abusive relationship storyline with Gareth Pierce, who plays Todd Grimshaw.

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It has been in recent weeks and months that Theo’s behaviour has slowly been exposed to those in Weatherfield, eventually leading to Todd bravely going to the police about the horrific domestic violence he has suffered at the hands of his now-husband following a devastating attack which left him in the hospital.

But as Corrie fans already knew, Theo was one of the five possible victims of a murder set to take place on the cobbles, and during Monday’s (April 27) episode of the show, breaking the condition of an order to stay away from Todd, Theo wasn’t pleased to find his former partner at their flat, getting ready to leave for Thailand.

After another altercation with Todd, and George Shuttleworth who came to his rescue, Theo managed to escape the police, only to end up confronting Todd once more. The undertaker had jumped in a taxi to head to the airport for his trip, only to realise he had forgotten his phone. He stopped the taxi and asked the driver to wait while he went back to get it, only to find Theo facing him on the dimly lit street, holding his missing phone.

The next time we saw them was during Friday’s (May 1) episode, when Todd played a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse to outsmart a vengeful Theo, and Summer Spellman found herself caught in the crossfire when she came face-to-face with a sinister Theo. Soon, outside, a jovial Betsy was given the shock of her life as she stumbled across the villain’s lifeless body.

Speaking for the first time about Theo’s exit from the soap, James told Inside Soap: “He is no more. Celebrate. He’s gone. God, wasn’t he awful? What an awful, awful man.

“I join a long line of people who’ve met Corrie’s own brand of justice.”

Speaking on what happens next, he added: “It’s been a really exciting and thrilling thing. And a who-done-it is really fun, I think. And then it only just starts because you’ve realised who’s killed. But then the next stage of it is you’re going, who’s done it – because now all we don’t know is who’s dead, but now we’ve got to who’s done it.”

And sending a message to fans he said: “Thank you absolutely from the bottom of my heart to anyone who’s given any time to watch anything I’ve done over the past 18 months and been a part of it.”

“I’m not [being] positive, I want to be realistic, it’s different being positive, not positive because today is sunny, it’s Italian weather, and I’m positive, no, no. I want to be realistic, and for that I’m like, so I feel this pressure to change the perspective. The same perspective you can see in different ways,” De Zerbi continued.

“The ghastly fact is that Jews are on everybody’s list, all of those hateful groups, whether you’re extreme right, whether you’re extreme left, whether you’re Islamist terrorist, whether you’re right-wing terrorist, and some hostile states as well now with some sort of Iranian-related threats. There’s a ghastly Venn diagram that they’re at the middle of.”

If you’re looking to grow the best tomatoes, Monty Don has urged gardeners to avoid one big mistake in May.

Planting and growing your own tomatoes is an enjoyable and fulfilling experience that results in fresh, tasty and healthy fruit that surpasses the flavour of store-bought options. One of the perks of growing your own tomatoes is the wide array of varieties available, such as cherry, plum, and beefsteak, each offering unique tastes, shapes, and uses in cooking.

However, to get any variety of tomatoes to flourish, there’s one thing gardeners need to make sure they do this month. Sharing important jobs to do outdoors, Monty Don took to his gardening blog to share that now is the time to be planting tomatoes. However, this task comes with a warning gardeners need to take notice of.

Monty pointed out that tomatoes should only be planted in the greenhouse at the start of may, and gardeners should avoid planting any outside until late May.

He said: “It is time to plant out tomatoes in a greenhouse – although wait till the end of the month for outdoor ones.

“This is because tomatoes hate too much temperature fluctuation, and May nights can be chilly – especially if the days are warm.”

Jane Perrone gardening expert who presents and produces a houseplant podcast, and has written a range of gardening books, agreed with Monty as she claimed that this is the “number one error” tomato growers make in May.

She said, “The number one error in the month of May is being lulled into a false sense of security by the weather and planting tomatoes out too early.

“Tomatoes stop growing once the temperature drops below 10 to 12°C at night, and ideally they need 15°C in the day.

“And frost will kill them, so wait till the frost risk is completely over before sending them outside for good – which is the end of May in my neck of the woods, which is southern England.”

Planting tomatoes in gardens too soon in May, when the soil is still too cold, can hinder their growth, disrupt pollination, leading to lower quality fruit, and even raise the chances of fungal diseases in plants due to the moist weather.

However, when tomatoes are planted outdoors in late May, the likelihood of frost damage is minimal since the weather tends to be much sunnier and warmer.

For those who are starting early and planting tomatoes in the greenhouse, it’s important to incorporate a good amount of soil mixed with plenty of compost. Additionally, if you’re using a pot, make sure it’s at least 30cm deep to support healthy root growth.

Monty said: “Plant them deeply, burying them right up to the bottom leaf, as the buried section of stem will develop extra roots.”

Speaking ahead of the final weekend of campaigning, the First Minister said: “Throughout this campaign, the SNP has taken our positive, ambitious message to the people of Scotland about how we will improve the NHS, support people with the cost of living, and deliver the fresh start of independence.