Bungling airport staff in Britain and Spain allowed a bald man to travel using his blonde girlfriend’s passport. Barber Neil Clulow, 50, failed to spot he had partner Karen Clift’s documents when he took a 7.30am flight. He flew from Birmingham for a three-night lads’ trip to Benidorm to celebrate pal Carl Fentham’s 50th birthday last month.

Grandad-of-five Neil, who also has a goatee beard, flashed his passport to Monarch Airlines’ staff on boarding and breezed through passport control at Alicante.

He only realised the error only when he and his pals were comparing passport pictures. Neil, from Halesowen, West Mids, said: “I can’t believe it, especially after the trouble with that missing jet.”

After spotting the mistake, Neil splashed out £70 for UPS to post his passport to Spain – only for them to accidentally send it to Berlin. The bungle meant he missed his flight home on March 19 but Monarch bosses agreed to let him fly back for free the next day.

He claims two senior airline officials met him when he arrived back in the UK and quizzed him about the security breach.

“They wanted to know what happened,” he said. “They asked if I would be willing to point out the woman who let me through because it was a serious breach of security.[…]