Holidaymakers will be able to digitally renew their passports but customers will still need to visit one of 725 branches across the network for the service.

The cost of renewing the passport digitally in branch is £75.50 – the same price for those renewing the passport themselves online.

But the Post Office adds a £15.40 fee to the digital service to cover in-branch support, taking photos, checking the application before it is sent and secure delivery of the old passport to Her Majesty’s Passport Office. This takes the full cost of the digital renewal service to £90.90.

If you want to make a postal passport application, it costs £85, having risen from £72.50 in March this year. For the check and send service in branch, the fee remains at an additional £9.75, taking the total price to £94.75.

So the new digital service is slightly cheaper at £90.90 compared to the £94.75 for the paper renewal with check and send.

The digital service is only available for adult passport renewals, not for first passports or for children.

Martin Edwards, managing director for identity services, said: “This is an exciting move for the Post Office. The Passport Office has recommended customers use our trusted Check and Send service for over 20 years, having checked over 30 million passports – and now we can offer a service which combines the speed and convenience of a digital application with the support and reassurance that comes with a branch-based service.

“This new service shows how we are constantly developing and expanding our services, bringing together the physical and digital worlds and offering even greater convenience and choice for customers.”