JAILED North Yorkshire man Peter Bleach is remaining calm about speculation that Prime Minister Tony Blair will raise his case with his Indian counterpart during his current visit to the sub-continent.

With tensions high between Pakistan and India, Mr Blair is expected to be more concerned with brokering a peace deal than asking for clemency.

"You do tend to get overtaken by events. You can't expect my problems to be number one on Tony Blair's agenda, although I hope I am No2," said Bleach, 50, who has just spent his sixth Christmas in Calcutta's Alipore Presidency jail for his part in a mysterious arms drop to suspected Indian hardliners. His alleged Russian co-conspirators were released over a year ago following the intervention of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since then the British government has stepped up its efforts to get Bleach released or at least transferred.

"Britain has made quite considerable efforts on my part....it's not as if they haven't done anything," said Bleach.

Bleach was particularly impressed by the recent efforts of the Foreign Secretary Jack Straw who he praised as decent and honest.

"I must say Jack Straw seems to have taken it up with enthusiasm. I'm pleased and encouraged but its a shame he has not got too far."

Another politician who he said had been supportive by "permanently pressing the case" was Tory MP Teddy Taylor. Speculation in India suggests Bleach might be released as early as next week if Blair's intervention is successful, but he is not banking on it. "I've given up rating my chances at all," he said. "You also tend to get more philosophical. The longer it goes on the harder it is to sort out."

Bleach spends most of his time in prison reading.

He has also taken up a new hobby - kitchen gardening. Bean seeds from a charity have given several crops and his tomato plants, which are now five feet tall, recently yielded their first two tomatoes.

"It's quite enjoyable," said Bleach, who has had no green vegetables for five years and has tired of relying on vitamin pills.

Updated: 10:48 Friday, January 04, 2002