The Indian wife of a British photographer said she is lost for words after being barred from taking a two-week trip to England with her husband because she does not have the right kind of space in her passport.

Thingngamchon Arthur, 45, who lives in Delhi with 47-year-old husband Findlay Kember, said immigration officials last month refused to allow her to enter the UK because she did not have two back-to-back blank passport pages in which a visa could be inserted.

She said she had travelled to England several times since marrying Mr Kember - who lived near Newmarket, Suffolk, before moving to India more than a decade ago - in 2007 without encountering any problems.

Home Office officials said visa applications were considered on "individual merits" and in line with guidelines.

Guidance headed "documents you must provide" on a "family visitor visa" section on the gov.uk website says: "You'll need to have a blank page in your passport on which to put the visa."

And a Home Office spokeswoman said: "Our guidance on applying for a UK visa clearly states that visa applicants need a page that is blank on both sides."

Ms Arthur said: "I'm lost for words."

She added: "The official reason for denial was that I do not have two back-to-back blank pages in my passport - although I do have consecutive blank pages.

"I simply don't understand. The official UK government website plainly says you need to have a 'blank page' in your passport on which to put the visa."

And she went on: "I've been to England several times with Findlay to visit his family. I've never had a problem before. I wasn't going to claim asylum. I wasn't going to be a burden to the welfare state.

"On the contrary, I was planning to boost the UK economy by doing a lot of shopping and spending some money.

"We were going to visit Findlay's relatives who live near Cambridge and near Shrewsbury. One was having a big birthday party - which I've missed.

"I'm bewildered and angry."

Mr Kember, whose late father Owen was a county cricketer with Surrey, said the Home Office response is "crazy".

And he has asked Conservative MP Andrew Lansley - who represents one of his relatives - for help.

"What we're concerned about is that there will be some note on the file which will lead to her having more problems in future," said Mr Kember.

"This needs to be sorted out. The decision makes no sense. We wonder if anyone else has had similar problems."

He added: "You'd think the UK immigration authorities would have enough to worry about at the moment with other priorities, without preventing my wife from visiting my family."