THE plane enthusiasts held in a Greek prison as they await a decision on spying charges against them are being comforted by an article published by the Evening Press, it emerged today.

Andy Jenkins, the York man included in the group, revealed he had pinned a copy of our November 13 interview with him on the wall of his cell to allow the other 11 British prisoners to see it.

He said it was giving them all hope to know that their plight was not being forgotten in their home country. Andy today told the Evening Press that its coverage of his ordeal in Greece was the best and most accurate that he had seen.

"It's great," he said. "It really tells the story."

Andy gave the Evening Press a message for family and friends back home. "Tell them I'm keeping my chin up," he said.

Meanwhile, the lawyer acting for the prisoners, Ioannis Zacharias, revealed why he was confident of a release for Andy and some of the other prisoners by the middle of next week. He said: "After what happened on Tuesday, which I call Black Tuesday, I acted very quickly to have a meeting with certain people in Kalamata and received an assurance that we should hear something in the middle of next week from the Council of Judges regarding those who are clear of the charges to do with notes and photographs." This group includes Andy.

The news came as political pressure grew for a speedy end to his ordeal, as Prime Minister Tony Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw were quizzed by MPs on the imprisonment of the plane spotters in Greece.

MPs warned the "ridiculous" situation could harm the Greek tourist trade.

Mr Blair said: "I have spoken to the Greek Prime Minister about this issue and the Foreign Secretary has spoken to his Greek counterpart."

British Consul Donald Holder said it was believed Kalamata's Council of Judges may finish reading the evidence against the air enthusiasts by Wednesday.

There would be no need for another hearing, as the council would probably announce its findings shortly after finishing their work on the case documents.

Mr Holder said that Mr Straw telephoned Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou yesterday to highlight the importance of the case in Britain.

Mr Papandreou is understood to have said that he sympathised and his government was also applying pressure, though under Greek law, justice must take its own course without inference from politicians.

But it was claimed today that the plane spotters had themselves delayed the judicial process by not telling the full story when they were first arrested.

Greek Embassy spokesman Nicholas Papabakis told GMTV that they did not reveal they had been warned off another air base a few days before their arrest at a base near Kalamata.

Updated: 15:49 Thursday, November 29, 2001