Urgent advice needed Re; Passport, name changes and statutory declarations.

[WooItsAGhostCat]

In 2009 I changed my name by deed poll, I changed everything except my passport because it was so expensive and at the time I didn't see the point as I wasn't travelling.
In 2012 I got married and double barrelled my surname.
My passport has now expired but the passport office have said I need to provide a statutory declaration explaining why I didn't renew my passport before.
What on earth do I write and are there any solicitors in the North London / Watford area who can witness me signing it tomorrow? My appointment with the passport office is 9am Wednesday.
Thanks

[BoomBoomsCousin]

Woo I'm not an expert in this, but you haven't had any expert help so hopefully this will be useful.

If you still need it, there's a website for finding notaries, so you may be able to find one near you.

But are you sure you need a statutory declaration? Could they mean they need to see your statutory declaration of name change or deed poll (as you can change your name by statutory declaration too)?

I changed my name by deed poll a while ago and didn't update my passport until long after it had expired. I didn't have any difficulty.

gov.uk has a few things on passports and name changes. This says the passport office need to be able to see clearly where your name comes from i.e. birth certificate > deed poll > marriage certificate.

Good luck.