A PROBE has started into our exclusive that a young Gwent girl got into Turkey with a passport identifying her as a cuddly unicorn.

Turkish media said authorities in the country have followed up our story on about nine-year-old Emily Harris, from Cwmbran, who got through Antalya airport with documents for her toy called Lilly.

A passport official stamped the fake passport to please Emily, but forgot to stamp her real one.

Since we broke the story on Wednesday it has made headlines around the world, including in the Times of India and the New York Daily News, as well as UK tabloid newspapers.

It also splashed across the Turkish papers, including major titles Sabah and Hurriyet Daily News.

The Anadolu News Agency, which is the official news agency of Turkey, reported that authorities have launched an investigation into the issue.

Authorities said the passport customs official who stamped the girl's fake passport did so to please Emily.

However the official forgot to stamp the real thing in 'a moment of haze', it was reported.

The passport that was stamped was a different size to a real UK passport, featuring gold teddy bears on the front.

The picture identifying Lilly was of the toy, which wasn't on the family's holiday.

Emily's mum Nicky Harris, from Pontnewydd, said she hopes the passport official won't lose her job.

"I don't want to get her fired. It's just to raise it – there are a lot of children that are being taken into countries illegally," she said.

She responded to website commenters that questioned the truth to the story: "It's not made up. I've got her passport and it hasn't been stamped."

The family's one week holiday to Turkey was the "best that we have been on," she added.

We reported on Wednesday that on May 27 Nicky, husband Allen and their daughter Emily arrived at Anatalya airport to start their one week family holiday.

Mrs Harris picked up what she thought were their three passports from her bag to hand to the woman at passport control.

The official checked the passports and even asked Emily her age before she stamped them and let the family through.

It was only later that Mrs Harris realised that instead of handing in Emily's passport she had shown her daughter's Design-a-Bear passport for a unicorn toy called Lily Harris.