Scotland Yard officers yesterday displayed part of a collection of 200 sets of identity papers, including doctored British passports, blank driving licences and birth certificates.

The fake identity kits could sell for up to £5,000 each and the collection found at the home of a 27-year-old Nigerian, who had gone underground when his asylum appeal collapsed, would be worth £250,000.

A team of police officers and immigration officials found nearly 50 UK passports, new blank South Africa and Nigeria passports and several from other countries at the workshop in Camberwell, South London. They also seized 20 to 30 birth certificates, 20 to 30 driving licences and 40 to 50 blank biographical pages for insertion in genuine British passports.

The haul included replicas of the stamps used by immigration to allow foreign passport-holders permission to stay in Britain. Police believe they were made in India or Pakistan.

Detective Chief Inspector Michael Hallowes said the false identity industry was growing hugely, with fake papers circulating widely and often internationally.

In another raid this week, police arrested a man posting fake Mexican papers to an Ecuadorean family who had been expelled from Britain and were waiting in Warsaw to travel with new documents. The papers could be used to open a bank account, get a job or apply for benefits, Mr Hallowes said.

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