Children aged 8 and up to use e-gates at UK airports this summer

Children aged eight and nine will soon be able to use e-gates when they return from holidays abroad.

E-gates can automatically confirm a person's identity by scanning faces, and then checking them against the photo in their passport.

Children will need to be of a certain height, so they can be seen by the machines, and must be travelling with an adult.

The new rule will come into effect this summer, and is hoped to help get families through border checks more quickly.

Under current rules, passengers aged under 10 are not allowed to use e-gates, meaning that many families are required to queue for passport booths.

However from 8 July, 8 and 9-year-old children who are at least 120cm (3ft 11in) tall and travelling with an adult, will be able to use the gates.

According to the Government, the change will mean that up to 1.5 million more children will be able to use them.

The new rule covers the 13 UK airports with e-gates, as well as ports in Brussels and Paris, where checks for people returning to the UK take place.