Passengers have been waiting up to two and a half hours to get through passport control at Stansted Airport – with delays predicted to get even worse after the UK leaves the EU.

According to the husband of one passenger who flew into the Essex airport at around 1.30pm on Thursday, people were having to wait more than two hours to get through passport control.

Other passengers have been claiming long delays of 45mins also afflicted Stansted on August 1 and another passenger complained it took 90 minutes to get through passport control on July 24.

Children under 12 are not allowed to use the automatic gates and Mason Forbes, whose wife and children had been flying back from Germany, said: “There seems to be an issue with children under 12 – no-one tells you why. People had been separated to the left and right hand sides.

“The left was for those with e-passports and was free flowing but anyone with ID as opposed to a passport, and childen under 12 had to go to the right. They were stuck.”

With Brexit fast approaching, concerns have been raised about how long people might spend in queues at passport control.

Prime minister Theresa May said said she wants dedicated passport lanes for UK citizens - overruling home secretary Sajid Javid, who said it would cost too much and could also create longer waiting times.

However Mason said Stansted, which had around 20 lanes open of a possible 30 when his family landed, needed to be more prepared. The airport is asking for permission to increase the number of passengers it can handle a year from 35 million to 43 million.

He said: “It is already at its limit, never mind anyone changing anything.

“Unless they keep things moving , there will be log jams everywhere and there is not the capacity to deal with it.”

Both Stansted Airport and the Home Office have been contacted for comment.