A special note to all British passport holders:the

British consulate in Rome has very quietly done

away with its passport services,which have high-

tailed it to Paris. From 3 June the new Western

European Passport Service, based at the British

consulate in Paris, has been processing all pass-

ports for Italy, Malta, Switzerland, Belgium,

Luxembourg, the Netherlands, France and

Monaco. There are soothing words on the

Foreign and Commonwealth Office website

about aims for a ten (working) day turnaround but

this excludes the time it takes to get your passport

there and back. You can send your passport to

Paris any way you prefer but all passports will be

returned via overnight courier at a cost of