By Gary Cooper

A PENSIONER who has lived in Angus for most of her life has had the threat of deportation lifted from her.

Marguerite Grimmond, of Kirriemuir, yesterday breathed a huge sigh of relief as she revealed a passport wrangle which could have seen her forced to leave the country had finally been resolved.

Mrs Grimmond, who has lived in Scotland for 78 years, told last week how immigration officials had given her until today to remain in the country after a passport problem came to light on her return from a trip to Australia.

She had spent three weeks with her husband Dave visiting their son Brian, who had emigrated Down Under—a trip which coincided with her 80th birthday.

But the jubilation turned to shock when Mrs Grimmond touched down at Heathrow and was told by an immigration official her travel documents were missing a vital Home Office stamp, meaning she could not legally re-enter the UK.

Mrs Grimmond was given a month to stay officially, during which time her passport would have to updated in a race against time-and at a cost of £750.

It was her first journey abroad since arriving from the US in 1929 on her mother’s passport, having spent her first two years in the Detroit area.

She had arranged a passport of her own from the American Consulate in Edinburgh for last month’s visit.

“Some very nice people from the Home Office rang me on Monday night to say it all had been sorted out and that everything would be in order with my passport,” she said.

“They also said I’m not being charged the fee for the stamp on my passport, the stamp I had not been told about at the time.

“They explained I’d now be able to travel wherever I wished, but I’ve said all along I’ve no intention of going abroad again.

“Going to Australia was a one-off and I’m quite happy having seen my son. We’re going to stick to enjoying our bus trips in this country.”

Her family were first to learn of her good news after Mrs Grimmond warned she would hide under the stairs of her house had she spotted men in bowler hats approaching on deportation day.

“I didn’t think I would be thrown out of the country, after all I have no-one in America, but my family were a bit uptight about it,” she went on.

“I must admit there was a wee niggle at the back of my mind, as stranger things have happened, and I really didn’t want to put that right to the test.

“I’m thrilled to bits it’s all been resolved.”

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