ANDY Jenkins touched down on British soil today for a joyful reunion with his little girl.

The York air enthusiast had been "desperate" to see his six-year-old daughter, Jessica, and the rest of his family after finally being released along with 11 other British plane spotters from a Greek jail.

Waiting at Luton Airport's arrivals gate and clutching a card for her daddy, Jessica said: "I can't wait to see him.

"I've made a card for him. It says: 'Welcome home daddy, I love you, Jessica'."

Her mum, Nona, said: "It has been hardest on Jessica. She has gone five weeks without seeing him while he was in Greece, but also before that she had not seen him for a couple of weeks. She has really missed him.

"When I was finally able to tell her that daddy was coming home it was when I was picking her up from school.

"She was jumping around the playground, desperately looking for someone to tell."

Family members, including Jessica, were taken to the airport by the Evening Press.

The arrivals concourse was awash with excited relatives, reporters, cameramen and photographers.

Andy's sister, Linda Hodgson, said: "It is all so bewildering. We are all here on tenterhooks and we keep having to tell people about it."

Andy's other sister, Adele, said: "We just can't wait to see him. It is the moment we've all been waiting for, for such a long time."

Andy, 32, who was released on bail from Nafplion Prison after judges lowered the charges of espionage against him to one of committing a misdemeanour, told the Evening Press last night: "I'm just glad to be out, we all are.

"We did nothing wrong at any stage and this decision goes some way towards proving that."

He said he was "not bothered" about possibly having to return to Greece for a trial, adding: "I will be able go back there and prove it all again."

Andy and the other plane spotters were arrested on November 8 at an airbase in Kalamata in southern Greece.

Updated: 10:50 Saturday, December 15, 2001