An urgent appeal has been launched to get an Isle of Wight swimmer's new passport delivered, in time to allow him to fly to his next competition.

Zac Lacey is due to compete in the 1st Open Euro Tri Games, which are being held in Ferrara, Italy.

The event starts on Wednesday and Zac, who is a well-known Island athlete with Down Syndrome, is due to fly from Heathrow tomorrow lunchtime (Monday).

Earlier this week, a mammoth effort on social media succeeded in getting passports processed in time for Zac and some of his teammates, thanks to a fast response from the UK passport office.

However, Zac's passport has now fallen foul of weekend delivery times and is yet to be delivered to his home.

It is currently held up in a delivery centre, apparently run by Fed-Ex owned TNT.

Family and friends say they are getting desperate and are trying to get in touch with the company, to see if delivery can be brought forward.

Team doctor Kathryn Stephenson told the County Press: "They really need passport today or first thing tomorrow.

"I had loads of support, from a Facebook group earlier in the week, who managed to get passport issued for him, but it’s now stuck in transit."