Shawn Smith woke up in France (Picture: SWNS)

A father who went out for a Christmas booze-up with his pals woke up 300 miles away from home – in France.

Shawn Smith, 48, joined his two mates for a few pints in his local but got roped into joining them on an overnight trip to the continent to buy cheap tobacco.

They planned to stock-up on the cut-price roll-ups which is just a third of the price of British tobacco.

Incredibly, Shawn, who has never left the UK and doesn’t even own a passport, managed to get through unchallenged in Dover, France and Belgium while he snoozed in the back of his friend’s car on December 1.


The dad stayed in a £17-a-night hotel (Picture: SWNS)

But he was stopped by customs officers on the return leg at Calais and was ordered to go to the British Consulate 180 miles in Paris to apply for an emergency passport.



He was then forced to fork out £99 for a new temporary passport but there were complications because he was born in Germany so he had to stay there for a week while the authorities checked his nationality.

Shawn spent £450 surviving in the French capital and dined out on guest house breakfast croissants and fast-food meals at McDonalds.

The self-employed plasterer eventually arrived back home exhausted in Worcester on December 10 and is now warning people not to leave the UK without their passport.

Postcard from Paris (Picture: SWNS)

Dad-of-six Shawn said: ‘I must have fallen asleep when we got to the port because the next thing I knew I woke up and was in France and we were on the way to Belgium.

‘I was shocked when they told me I had to go to Paris to fill out the forms for an emergency passport but I had no choice.

‘I don’t want to see Paris again, although it is a beautiful city.’

He added: ‘I only went abroad to save cash on tobacco but it ended up costing me a fortune. It was an expensive hangover but something to tell the grandkids about.’

Shawn the explorer (Picture: SWNS)