AN MP has been helping a man who is trapped abroad due to an identity dispute with the passport office, but says the situation is ‘difficult.’

Robin Walker MP has been helping James Spencer, a Worcester man who has been trapped in Cyprus since 2017 when the passport office withheld his passport due to his change of name.

Mr Walker said: “I do think we have tried to do what we can. However this is a really difficult situation. It makes it very difficult when someone has different aliases. What we suggest is that he go and sit down with the authorities if he can and work through his changes of name with them.”

Mr Walker said: “At the moment there is nothing more really I can do. The best thing you can do is to sit down with someone from the consular and talk it through.”

James Spencer, who may be known to some in Worcester as Robin Nash, said he is unable to access healthcare and employment in Cyprus because he does not have a passport.

The former Nunnery Wood High School student says he is suffering from health problems which he has been told could indicate cancer or intestinal problems but cannot access healthcare in Cyprus.

The 52-year-old says the authorities are asking him to prove his identity by providing his original birth certificate which he does not have. He has tried multiple ways to convince the passport office of his identity and has contacted the British Embassy and human rights charities to help him fight the decision to not allow him back into the country.

Mr Spencer who was once arrested as a 13-year-old for breaking into a school in Worcester has offered to give authorities his finger prints as proof of his identity. However, they will not accept this as proof.

Mr Spencer who was working in stocks and shares in Cyprus has also made attempts to get emergency travel documents.