Travelling with Grand children

[John Brown]

We often travel via Zeebrugge to Hull ( We come from "up north" ) and last month we took our 9 year old grandson back home after he spent the summer with us

We were stopped at Passport Control in Hull and were questioned at length about our grandson sitting in the back of the car.

He has a different surname to us and we were told we needed written permission to bring him back into the UK

This is the first time we have been stopped but we welcome the change if it means children are safer because of it.

What seems strange is that no check is made when taking a child out of the UK

I thought for one terrible moment that we would be turned around back to the ship

I explained to the "lady" questioning us that after 6 weeks I was not taking him back to France

6 weeks is a long time for a granddad

JB

 

[EmilyA]

I always carry written permission from their parents when travelling with our grandchildren. I have been asked for it on a couple of occasions, but not every time. I think it makes absolute sense from the point of view of the children's safety. Our letter also has a line that says that in the event of an accident that we can act "in loco parentis".

[JeanS]

My daugher nearly always brings on of her son's friends when visiting us. Likewise she always has a letter signed by the parents - so far in 4 years, she's only been asked twice for it. She has it in English and French. She only ever uses the tunnel because she's a bad sailor.

[Andyphilpott]

I had this a few years ago when I took my nieces and nephews over for a day trip. The guy at Calais said I was not allowed to take them back without a letter from the parents (which I was not then aware of) so I offered to hand them over to him for a few days and send the parents to get them.

They cried

He declined

Job done

Andy