LONDON, Feb 18 People applying for a new British passport will have to attend a face-to-f

LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) People applying for a new British passport will have to attend a face-to-face interview from April as part of a drive to cut identity fraud, the government said.

The Home Office said yesterday it will help tackle crime but critics condemned the move as intrusive and unnecessary, saying it would make everyone a suspect.

More than 600,000 new applicants each year will have to visit a special passport office and answer questions about themselves for 10 to 20 minutes to confirm their identity.

''The point is to prevent fraudsters stealing other people's identity,'' the Home Office said in a statement. ''Everything gathered that is additional to the initial application form will be destroyed shortly after the interview.'' Identity fraud costs Britain 1.7 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) a year or 35 pounds per adult, the Home Office said last year. More than 100,000 people are affected each year.

There were 1,700 confirmed fraudulent passport applications last year. Current applicants only have to fill out a form.

''People will be asked about basic information about themselves -- not deeply private information, but information that can be checked,'' the Home Office said.

The Identity and Passport Service's Chief Executive James Hall said he thought applicants would accept the added checks, just as they put up with tighter airport security.

''People will recognise that it's appropriate, once in their lifetime, to go through a little bit more inconvenience in order that we can ensure the integrity of the passport,'' he told BBC radio.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's government has already faced fierce opposition to his plans to tackle fraud through measures such as a national identity card.

The planned cards, with fingerprint, iris and face recognition technology, will also help fight illegal immigration and terrorism and make it simpler to open a bank account, the government says.

Opponents of ID cards and the passport interviews said the schemes will be costly and could be misused.

''The spin is intended to be reassuring, but the real message is clear: If you want to travel, you are a suspect,'' said Phil Booth, national co-ordinator of NO2ID, a pressure group which campaigns against ID cards.

Private information could be at risk from fraudsters or people with a vendetta if it is gathered in one place by the government, the group said.

REUTERS PB HS0843