TWO men have been charged after several boxes of blank passports worth £2.5 million were stolen in Oldham last July.

Mohammed Fyal, aged 34 of Darnley Road, Stretford, and Mohammed Khan, 52 of Cambridge Street, Wernerth, have been charged with handling stolen goods.

It follows the theft in Long Lane, Chadderton on July 28 when several boxes of passports were taken from a security van.

The Foreign Office admitted a serious breach of security over the loss of the 3,000 passports.

Three others were charged last week.

The men, 29-year-old Muneer Hussain of Dearnalay Way, Oldham, 28-year-old Jawad Karim, of Vicarage Street, Oldham, and 23-year-old Mohammed Shanawaz of Old Lane, Chadderton, appeared before Oldham magistrates charged with handling stolen property.