THE battle to keep open Newport's Passport Office and save the jobs of its 300 staff goes to Westminster on Wednesday, with campaigners vowing to put a "robust' case to Home Office minister Damian Green.

Newport East AM John Griffiths will accompany representatives from the union PCS to a meeting with Mr Green, the minister responsible for passport services, in the House of Commons - and he is convinced that the arguments for retaining the office are as strong as ever.

"We want this office to stay open, not just with a token workforce of 30 or 40, but with 300, and hopefully increasing its role," said Mr Griffiths, who will accompany PCS reps Ben Rapier and Paul McGoay.

"We are well into the consultation period (on proposals to close the current operation and to leave a counter service-only office in the city) and lots of issues have been raised along the way.

"They still have not justified the proposed closure in terms of the business case that was issued."

"We will be asking lots of questions and present a robust view of the situation from the point of view of Newport, the staff, the services they provide to Wales and the West.

The Argus is running a Save Our Passport Office campaign, alongside PCS' own campaign. This newspaper's petition calling for the closure to be scrapped, which was handed into 10 Downing Street last month, gathered more than 24,000 signatures.

"I think the strength of the campaign has surprised them (the Government) and the Argus has been a huge boost, and of course the petition," said Mr Griffiths.

"People are aware of the dependence of Newport on public sector jobs, people understand it is a big strength for Newport to have quality public service jobs, and are worried that once you start chipping away at that, how far will it go?"