The price of a new British passport becomes more expensive from this week as the Home Office presses ahead with plans to increase application costs.

Passport charges have not risen for five years, says the government, which has confirmed it will be upping the costs to travellers from Thursday (February 2).

Raising prices for new or replacement documents, say border officials, will help the Home Office move towards a system that meets its costs through those who use it as it attempts to scale back the Passport Office's reliance on funding from general taxation.

The government insists it makes no profit from the cost of passport applications - with the fees people pay contributing both to the cost of processing applications alongside meeting budgets for additional services such as consular support overseas, including help with lost or stolen passports and the cost of processing British citizens at UK borders.

Anyone applying for a new passport online from Thursday will have to pay £82.50 for an adult passport - up from £75.50 - and £53.50 for a child's passport - a rise from £49.

Postal applications will also increase from £85 to £93 for adults and £58.50 to £64 for children while priority service fees, says the Home Office, are also being aligned so all customers will pay the same.

The fee for a standard online application when applying from overseas for a UK passport will rise from £86 to £94 this week for adults and £56 to £61 for children.

Despite coming under fire last year over application backlogs caused by staff shortages and the pandemic that disrupted the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of people, the Home Office says since January last year over 95% of standard applications have been processed within 10 weeks.

However anyone hoping to travel this summer who doesn't have the required documents in place or who has a passport that will soon expire is being advised to apply in good time before booking to travel abroad.