A NEWLYWED couple say they missed out on a dream honeymoon after Royal Mail lost their passports.

Martine and Doug Gray saved for months to spend £6,000 on a luxury safari in Kenya.

Instead, they honeymooned in the Lake District after their passports were lost in the post for a month.

The Grays, of South Gosforth, Newcastle, are seeking £2,500 compensation but say they are outraged that Royal Mail says they are only entitled to £28.

The couple sent their passports to the Kenyan embassy, in London, to have visas stamped. The embassy sent the passports back by recorded delivery 12 days before they were due to fly, but the package was returned to the embassy 28 days after it had been posted.

Royal Mail say they couldn't deliver the parcel as the address was incomplete - it was missing the house name, although it had the correct street name, postcode and names.

Mrs Gray, 27, who works for a children's charity, said: "We spent the three days before the ceremony in Durham passport office desperately trying to get new passports, but they couldn't be processed in time.

"The letter was incorrectly addressed, but sent special delivery. If they couldn't deliver it, they should have sent it back to the embassy straight away and the problem could have been sorted."

The Royal Mail said: "The mail was returned to sender due to an incomplete address. Any mail successfully delivered with an incomplete address is usually down to the local knowledge of staff.

"I am sorry that on this occasion it took a number of days for the item to be returned to sender, but, as it was some months ago, we cannot speculate as to the reason for this."