Blue UK passports could make a return

Passport check - Steve Parsons/PA

The Home Office has confirmed it is looking at altering the colour of British passports once the UK leaves the European Union, amid a campaign to change them from burgundy to blue.

Brexit campaigners and The Sun newspaper are among those to have thrown their weight behind demands for a return to the old colour.

UK Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill said: "We are considering potential changes to the UK passport after the UK has left the European Union."

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At this early stage we have not undertaken a detailed cost benefit analysis or made any decisions about what a future UK passport might look like."

He was responding to a written question from Tory MP Julian Knight, who said: "The blue passport is a symbol of our independence as a strong, proud nation.

"I think this is a clear shift in position.

"I am very pleased to see that my calls and those of other MPs seem to be having an effect and that officials are now looking at the prospect of reintroducing this great symbol of our independence and our nation."

The UK used blue passports until 1988, when the documents fell into line with other EU nations.