The Identity and Passport Service has called on loved-up couples to ensure their passports are safe before booking a Valentine's Day break.

Revealing the most bizarre reasons for last minute passport replacements, the government entity urged travellers to refrain from booking flights and accommodation before receiving a new or replacement passport.

Some of the strangest reasons given for needing a new passport included a woman losing both her and her husband's passports after being blown off a cliff and one man's passport falling out of his pocket while on a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon.

One unfortunate traveller had to apply for a new passport after his old one was cut up into pieces by a girlfriend upset over him picking a lads holiday over a romantic break, while another was forced to use his passport as loo paper while travelling in the outback in Australia.

"Without a valid passport, you run the risk of missing out on your trip abroad, or having to waste time and money organising a replacement," commented Home Office minister Meg Hillier.

Paris is considered to be the most romantic European city by Britons, according to a survey by Rosetta Stone.

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