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

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.